Galco Industrial Electronics in Madison Heights, an industrial electronics components distributor, has been acquired by Freeman Spogli and Co., management, and other investors. Freeman Spogli has offices in New York and California. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Mike Conwell, CEO of Galco, and the rest of the management team will continue to lead and operate the company. Galco is an e-commerce driven maintenance, repair, and operations-focused distributor of industrial and commercial electrical and electronic control, automation and motion, lighting, and power transmission products.
“Freeman Spogli’s expertise in developing value-added distribution companies will be immensely valuable as we pursue multiple expansion opportunities and strategic initiatives over the years to come,” says Conwell.
Galco was founded in 1975 and specializes in hard-to-find products. It offers more than 3 million SKUs to more than 64,000 customers in the U.S. and internationally. It also offers services including custom engineering systems as well as send-in and on-site repair.
“Mike Conwell and the rest of the Galco management team have done a terrific job of building the business through partnerships with vendors within both existing and new product categories as well as through strategic acquisitions,” says Jon Ralph, partner at Freeman Spogli.
Galco was advised by BB&T Capital Markets, and its legal counsel was Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, and Jacobson. Freeman Spogli’s legal counsel was Ropes and Gray LLP. Madison Capital and BMO Harris provided the debt financing to support the acquisition.
Freeman Spogli is a private equity firm that invests in and partners with management in consumer and distribution companies in the U.S. It was founded in 1983 and has invested more than $4.8 billion in 64 portfolio companies with an aggregate transaction value of more than $24 billion.
