June 4, 2024 – The AD (Affiliated Distributors) and Imark Electrical boards of directors announced they have unanimously voted to merge Imark Electrical and AD.

The merger is centred on the electrical channel in the United States. It does not include Imark Canada, Imark Plumbing, or Imark Group, each of which are separate legal entities from Imark Electrical.

“In addition to creating an even stronger future for independent electrical distributors, this merger will eliminate significant redundancies for our supplier partners currently working with two separate groups, and will create exciting new opportunities for growth, efficiencies, and best practice sharing,” said John Thompson, Imark Electrical board chair.

This merger unites two member-owned groups consisting of 725 independent electrical distributors in the U.S.

The new entity will be a division within AD called Independent Electrical Supply Division, U.S. (IESD), and will become part of the overall AD community of 1410 independent distributors spanning nine construction and industrial verticals, and 14 divisions within the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

“AD’s transition to member ownership in 2018 opened the door for this possibility,” said Steve Helle, former Imark board chair. “I salute the Imark Electrical board and the Special Committee that worked out all the details that enabled this to happen.”

That Special Committee comprised members from both boards, and included representatives from First Electric Supply, Crescent Electric Supply, Summit Electric Supply, DSG, McNaughton-McKay, Kirby Risk, Border States.

“The vision, focus, and collaboration of our boards, the Special Committee, and the support they received from both our staffs has been outstanding,” said Bill Weisberg, AD chair and CEO. “Combining our teams and our members within a united group paves the way for multi-generational success for independents.”

Among other things, the transaction is subject to Imark Electrical shareholder approval, but is expected to close later this year.