Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE:RS), a metal services provider and metals service center operator in North America. has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Merfish United, a master distributor of tubular building products in the United States, from One Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm.
Headquartered in Ipswich, Mass., Merfish United is a master distributor of carbon steel pipes, copper tubing, plastic pipe, electrical conduit and related products that are distributed to its independent wholesale distributor customers across a variety of end markets.
“We identified Merfish as a unique business with strong growth prospects led by a talented management team,” said Jamie Koven, senior managing director, OEP. “We’re proud of our work with Merfish United’s CEO Greg Leidner, chairman Gerald Merfish and their team over the past eight years to create one of the largest master distributors of competitively priced standard pipe and tube products in North America.”
“OEP has been an exceptional partner to Merfish United, from supporting operational improvements to driving a transformational acquisition strategy. We have benefitted greatly from their experience in building market-leading industrial businesses, and we are excited for our next chapter of growth,” said
Leidner.
OEP was advised by Houlihan Lokey as an exclusive M&A advisor. KPMG served as a financial advisor. Dechert LLP served as legal counsel.