Deschenes Group Inc. (DGI) has agreed to acquire Corix Water Products (CWP), a division of Corix Infrastructure Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions, is expected to be completed January 2018.
Corix is privately held, with the BC Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) as its primary owner.
CWP distributes products for waterworks, sewer and irrigation systems with 36 locations in Canada, from the province of Québec to British Columbia and with 12 locations in the states of Washington, Oregon, California and Texas. Under the name of Corix Control Solutions the company also provides measurement and control equipment to the oil, gas, municipal and industrial market sectors in Western Canada in 7 locations.
The acquisition will add 51 locations to the DGI network and 650 qualified people.
François Deschênes, President and CEO of DGI stated “This acquisition is in line with our strategy to further develop our growth throughout Canada. The geographical fit with CWP will be a great complement to where we are currently located. It will also allow us to enter the US market, something we have been considering seriously for several years. The entrepreneurial and customer focused culture that we discovered in CWP will be a great fit with our own culture, providing an opportunity to further grow both CWP and DGI together. We strongly believe that a distribution business is built on the quality of its people and the quality of its service. We are privileged to welcome the addition of CWP’s strong and well reputed team”.
Scott Thomson, President and CEO of Corix Infrastructure Inc. stated “Our products business has a long and successful history of providing quality products by experienced and knowledgeable staff. CWP played an important role in helping establish Corix as a leader in our core North American utility infrastructure business. Finding a buyer for CWP whose culture was aligned with our own, and who had a similar vision for the future, was extremely important. We are confident that DGI is an excellent match and they will support and encourage the growth of the business in the years to come.”
Founded in 1940, Deschenes Group Inc. is a private family-owned company based in Montreal. Deschenes Group, the largest Canadian-owned company in its sector of activity, is a leading wholesale distributor to the plumbing, heating, electrical, waterworks, fire protection, HVAC/R and auto parts markets, with 134 sales points throughout Canada. The company also has 20 plumbing retail stores in Quebec and Ontario.