Sonepar to Add 23 Midwest Branches with Echo Electric Acquisition

Electrical supplies distributor and solutions provider Sonepar will acquire the Council Bluffs, IA-based Echo Electric Supply Company in a deal expected to close by the end of August. Terms of the transaction haven’t been disclosed.

Founded in 1950, Echo Electric supplies electrical parts, equipment and services to contractors in the industrial, commercial and residential markets in North America. Sonepar will absorb 23 branch locations and more than 600 associates across Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota and Missouri through the acquisition.

“I’m enormously proud of Echo Electric’s track record as an independent distributor. Sonepar’s approach of combining global resources with a local strategy tailored to the market was important in our decision to join their well-respected organization,” Echo CEO Mitch lane said in a July 24 news release. “We feel Sonepar is a great cultural and strategic fit. I’m deeply appreciative of our employee’ hard work and dedication over the years and look forward to this new chapter for us.”

Paris, France-based Sonepar achieved global sales of $36 billion in 2023 and serves customers across the world in 40 countries. Echo will serve as the company’s latest major expansion in the U.S. market, which Sonepar entered in 1998. A May 2024 MDM Premium article focused on Sonepar’s North American acquisition history, and projected where it might expand to next. The U.S. Central Plains were identified in that article as the next geography Sonepar was likely to make an acquisition in next.

Premium: A Study of Sonepar’s North American Acquisition Journey (May 2024)

“We welcome Echo electric associates into Sonepar and look forward to building upon their reputation as the market leader,” Sonepar Americas President Rob Taylor added. Echo Electric is an exceptional distributor with excellent technical expertise, particularly in power distribution and wire management to support state-of-the-art data centers. They have an impressive track record of growth, and we’re excited to continue our expansion across the Midwest together.”

Sonepar’s North American operations — No. 2 on MDM’s Top Distributors List for Electrical — previously acquired six companies in the Midwest in the last three years: Springfield Electric, Richards Electric, Pepco, Holt, Sunrise Electric and most recently Michigan-based Standard Electric and Madison Electric.

A week earlier, Sonepar announced the appointment of Dave Jay to the newly-created role of Vice President of Industrial Solutions and Business Development at Sonepar USA.

Share this article

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.