PITTSBURGH, June 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WESCO
International, Inc. (NYSE: WCC) ("WESCO"), a leading provider of
electrical, industrial, and communications MRO and OEM products,
construction materials, and advanced supply chain management and
logistics services, and Anixter International Inc. (NYSE: AXE)
("Anixter"), a leading global distributor of Network & Security
Solutions, Electrical & Electronic Solutions, and Utility Power
Solutions, today announced the future leadership team and
organizational structure that will become effective upon the
completion of the merger of the two companies. The transaction is
expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2020, subject
to the satisfaction of remaining customary closing conditions.
John Engel, Chairman, President,
and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are very pleased to reach
this critical milestone and announce the formation of our future
senior leadership team comprised of outstanding leaders from both
WESCO and Anixter. The depth of talent across both organizations is
reflected in this exceptionally strong executive management team
that will lead our combined company through the integration process
and our transformation into the premier global electrical and data
communications distribution and supply chain solutions company. I
look forward to working with this team as we utilize the best
elements of the combined company to deliver our synergy commitments
and create substantial value for our customers, suppliers,
employees, and investors. The senior leadership team will consist
of leaders of three global Strategic Business Units (SBUs), as well
as the company's corporate finance, human resources, legal, and
supply chain/operations functions. In addition, WESCO announced a
new Chief Transformation Officer position with responsibility for
completion of the integration process, aligning the company's IT
systems and digital transformation efforts, and extending WESCO's
historical strength of lean processes across the entire enterprise.
These eight senior leadership positions are effective at closing
and will report directly to me."
Strategic Business Unit Leadership
Nelson Squires, currently
Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for WESCO, will
become Executive Vice President & General Manager of Electrical
& Electronic Solutions. Mr. Squires has held his current
position since 2019. Mr. Squires has led WESCO Canada since joining the company in 2015 and
gained additional responsibility for the WIS and International
businesses in 2018. Prior to joining WESCO, Mr. Squires held
various Vice President & General Manager positions with Air
Products & Chemicals, Inc.
Bill Geary, currently
Executive Vice President – Network & Security Solutions for
Anixter, will become Executive Vice President & General Manager
of Communications & Security Solutions. Mr. Geary has held his
current position since 2017. Previously, Mr. Geary held a variety
of senior management roles at Accu-Tech, including President.
Jim Cameron, currently
Vice President & General Manager, Utility & Broadband for
WESCO, will become Executive Vice President & General Manager
of Utility & Broadband Solutions. Mr. Cameron joined WESCO in
2011 and has led Utility since 2014 and gained additional
responsibility for Broadband in 2016. Prior to joining WESCO, Mr.
Cameron held various senior positions with Irby, a Sonepar Company,
as Senior Vice President of the Utility Group as well as Vice
President of Marketing & Operations. Earlier in his
career, he held various positions with Hubbell Power Systems.
Corporate Leadership
Dave Schulz, currently
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of WESCO, will
become Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. He
has served in his current position since 2016. Prior to
joining WESCO, Mr. Schulz was Senior Vice President & Chief
Financial Officer at Armstrong World Industries. Earlier in his
career, Mr. Schulz held various financial leadership positions at
Procter & Gamble and the J.M. Smucker Company.
Ted Dosch, currently
Executive Vice President – Finance & Chief Financial Officer of
Anixter, will become Executive Vice President, Strategy & Chief
Transformation Officer. Mr. Dosch has served in his current
position since 2011 and previously held the position of Senior Vice
President of Global Finance for Anixter. Prior to joining Anixter,
Mr. Dosch held senior positions, including CFO-North America and
Vice President – Maytag Integration at Whirlpool Corporation.
Diane Lazzaris, currently
Senior Vice President & General Counsel of WESCO, will become
Executive Vice President & General Counsel. Ms. Lazzaris has
served in her current position since 2014 and previously held the
position of Vice President, Legal Affairs for WESCO. Prior to
joining WESCO, Ms. Lazzaris served as General Counsel &
Corporate Secretary at Dick's Sporting Goods. Earlier in her
career, she held various leadership positions in Alcoa's legal
department.
Chris Wolf, currently
Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer of WESCO,
will become Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources
Officer. Ms. Wolf has served in her current position since 2018.
Prior to joining WESCO, Ms. Wolf served as Chief Human Resources
Officer of Orbital ATK, Inc. until its acquisition by Northrop
Grumman, and previously was Chief Human Resources Officer of Fannie
Mae and E*Trade Financial Corporation.
Hemant Porwal, currently
Vice President, Global Supply Chain & Operations of WESCO, will
become Executive Vice President, Supply Chain & Operations. Mr.
Porwal has held his current position since 2015. Previously, Mr.
Porwal served as Vice President & Chief Procurement Officer
with Sears Holdings. Earlier in his career, Mr. Porwal held various
financial, supply chain, and operations leadership positions at
PepsiCo.
WESCO will share further details about its integration planning
and anticipated operational and reporting structure once the
transaction closes.
About WESCO
WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE: WCC), a
publicly traded Fortune 500® holding company headquartered
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
is a leading provider of electrical, industrial, and communications
maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) and original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) products, construction materials, and advanced
supply chain management and logistic services. 2019 annual sales
were approximately $8.4 billion. The company employs
approximately 9,500 people, maintains relationships with
approximately 30,000 suppliers, and serves approximately 70,000
active customers worldwide. Customers include commercial and
industrial businesses, contractors, government agencies,
institutions, telecommunications providers, and utilities. WESCO
operates 11 fully automated distribution centers and approximately
500 branches in North America and international markets,
providing a local presence for customers and a global network to
serve multi-location businesses and multi-national
corporations.
About Anixter
Anixter International is a leading
global distributor of Network & Security Solutions, Electrical
& Electronic Solutions and Utility Power Solutions. The company
helps build, connect, protect, and power valuable assets and
critical infrastructures. From enterprise networks to industrial
MRO supply to video surveillance applications to electric power
distribution, Anixter International offers full-line solutions, and
intelligence, that create reliable, resilient systems that sustain
businesses and communities. Through Anixter International's
unmatched global distribution network along with its supply chain
and technical expertise, the company helps lower the cost, risk and
complexity of its customers' supply chains.
Anixter International adds value to the distribution process by
providing over 100,000 customers access to 1) innovative supply
chain solutions, 2) nearly 600,000 products and over $1.0 billion in inventory, 3) over 300
warehouses/branch locations with over 9 million square feet of
space and 4) locations in over 300 cities in approximately 50
countries. Founded in 1957 and headquartered near Chicago, Anixter International trades on the
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AXE.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements made herein that are not historical facts
should be considered as forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially.
These forward-looking statements are identified by words such as
anticipate, plan, believe, estimate, intend, expect, project, will
and similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking
statements are based on current expectations and beliefs of WESCO's
management as well as assumptions made by, and information
currently available to, WESCO's management, current market trends
and market conditions and involve risks and uncertainties, many of
which are outside of WESCO's and WESCO's management's control, and
which may cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should
not place undue reliance on such statements. Certain of these risks
are set forth in WESCO's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2019, WESCO's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended
March 31, 2020, as well as WESCO's
other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC").
These risks, uncertainties and assumptions also include
impact of natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks,
especially the outbreak of COVID- 19 since December 2019, which may have a material adverse
effect on WESCO, Anixter and/or the combined company's
business, results of operations and financial condition, the
timing, receipt and terms and conditions of any required
governmental and regulatory approvals of the Merger that could
reduce anticipated benefits or cause the parties to abandon the
proposed transaction, the occurrence of any event, change or other
circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger
agreement, the risk that the parties may not be able to satisfy the
conditions to the proposed transaction in a timely manner or at
all, risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing
business operations due to the proposed transaction, the risk that
any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have
adverse effects on the market price of WESCO's common stock, the
risk of any unexpected costs or expenses resulting from the
proposed transaction, the risk of any litigation relating to the
proposed transaction, the risk that the proposed transaction and
its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of
WESCO or Anixter to retain customers and retain and hire key
personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers,
customers and other business relationships and on their operating
results and businesses generally, the risk that the pending
proposed transaction could distract management of both entities and
they will incur substantial costs, the risk that problems may arise
in successfully integrating the businesses of the companies, which
may result in the combined company not operating as effectively and
efficiently as expected, the risk that the combined company may be
unable to achieve synergies or other anticipated benefits of the
proposed transaction or it may take longer than expected to achieve
those synergies or benefits, the risk that leverage of the combined
company may be higher than anticipated and other important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
projected. All such factors are difficult to predict and are beyond
WESCO's control.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or
the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a
solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale
of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation
or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification
under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of
securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting
the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended. In connection with the Merger, on each of March 4, 2020 and March 9,
2020, WESCO filed with the SEC an amendment to the
registration statement originally filed on February 7, 2020, which includes a prospectus of
WESCO and a proxy statement of Anixter, and each party will file
other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC.
The registration statement was declared effective by the SEC on
March 11, 2020 and the proxy
statement/prospectus has been mailed to Anixter's stockholders.
INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF WESCO AND ANIXTER ARE URGED TO
READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND
OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR
ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT WESCO, ANIXTER AND THE PROPOSED
TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain
free copies of the registration statement, proxy
statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by
WESCO or Anixter through the website maintained by the SEC at
http://www.sec.gov [sec.gov]. Copies of the documents
filed with the SEC by WESCO will be available free of charge on
WESCO's website at http://wesco.investorroom.com/sec-filings
[wesco.investorroom.com] and copies of the documents
filed with the SEC by Anixter will be available free of charge on
Anixter's website at
http://investors.anixter.com/financials/sec-filings
[investors.anixter.com].
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SOURCE WESCO International, Inc.