Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:Â WSO) announced that it has completed the acquisition of Acme Refrigeration, a leading distributor of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration products based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Founded in 1945, Acme offers approximately 7,000 SKUs to over 4,000 active customers throughout 18 locations in Louisiana and Mississippi and is led by third and fourth generation members of its founding family. Acme generated revenues of $60 million in 2020. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco’s Chairman and CEO, commented: “We welcome Acme Refrigeration, its leaders and employees to the Watsco family of companies. Acme has long been an admired company within its markets with a loyal customer following. Consistent with our buy-and-build acquisition strategy, Acme will operate under its existing name and under the direction of its current leadership team to provide continuity to customers, employees and OEM partners. We look forward to providing the resources, capital and technology needed to assist in achieving their growth plans.“
Watsco has acquired 64 businesses since 1989, most of which were successful, multi-generation, family-owned businesses. The acquisition of Acme is the second purchase this year. On April 12, 2021, Watsco announced the purchase of Temperature Equipment Corporation, a $291 million distributor company with 32 locations covering the U.S. Midwest. Watsco’s “buy and build” strategy can be summarized as follows:
- Identify and partner with great businesses focused on the HVAC/R industry
- Support their leadership team and honor the culture and legacy they have created
- Ask for aggressive growth plans and help leadership achieve their ambitions
- Motivate teams and reaffirm an ownership culture with long-term equity
- Deploy the industry’s most comprehensive suite of customer-focused technologies
- Solicit and collaborate on big ideas to foster a spirit of innovation and growth
- Build a stronger Watsco because of our association with these companies
Watsco is actively seeking additional opportunities to invest and grow through acquisitions given our relative low market share of the estimated $40 billion North American distribution marketplace for HVAC/R products.
