RS Group snaps up Distrelec for £323 million

The deal increases the Group’s revenue by 40% in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and adds scale in Italy, Benelux and Eastern Europe.

RS Group says that there is a high degree of overlap in the largely European supplier base and the combined distribution network will improve the operational efficiency and customer experience of both RS and Distrelec.

It expects significant cost synergies in procurement, logistics and warehousing, and marketing and administration, in addition to revenue synergies from cross-selling opportunities of its own brand and solutions offer.

As a high service distributor of industrial and MRO products, a comparable product mix and customer-centric focus, Distrelec is a complementary business to RS.

For the year ended 31 December 2022, Distrelec generated revenue of €270 million and EBIT of €34 million.

Simon Pryce, RS Group Chief Executive Officer commented,"Strategic acquisitions that are value creative is part of our strategy, and I'm pleased with what I've seen of our disciplined identification, assessment, valuation and integration processes. These have helped to drive good progress at Risoul since we acquired it in January 2023. Distrelec is a complementary business to RS with excellent value creation potential under our ownership. It materially strengthens our presence in key European markets, there is a strong cultural and operational fit and there are significant potential soft and hard synergies from the combination. We look forward to welcoming Distrelec to RS and to realising the significant potential growth and value creation opportunities it creates for all our stakeholders."

Said Stephan Rahmede, Vice President of AURELIUS, “We are delighted about this successful exit transaction. Today, Distrelec is known to be a leading pan-European multi-channel platform for B2B customers in the MRO business for electronic components. We showcased strong digital growth in our core markets of DACH and the Nordics. Combining the digital teams and competences of RS Group and Distrelec represents a big opportunity to accelerate the power of digital business innovation.”