Do it Best completes True Value acquisition
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFort Wayne-based Do it Best Corp. has completed its nearly $200 million acquisition of True Value Co. LLC, the company announced Friday.
The acquisition brings more than 4,500 independently owned hardware retailers under the Do it Best umbrella, including stores in more than two dozen Indiana communities.
The deal was first announced in mid-October, when Chicago-based True Value began voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
As part of the bankruptcy filing, the company said it has entered into an agreement with Do it Best, which would serve as a stalking horse bidder for True Value’s assets, with an initial cash offer of $153 million and the assumption of up to $45 million in additional liabilities.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business Host Gerry Dick, Do it Best CEO Dan Starr said the acquisition creates opportunity for his company.
“I look at a couple different things. One is just the sincere growth that this gives us,” Starr said. “It would double the number of members that we have. Four thousand is already a lot, but to have another 4,000 across the country and across the world is significant. That makes us the largest co-op on the planet.”
Do It Best is the largest private company in Indiana with more than $5 billion in annual revenue, according to IBJ research. The member-owned hardware, lumber and building materials cooperative has nearly 1,700 total employees, including about 470 in the Hoosier State.
The assets involved in the acquisition include True Value’s inventory, brand rights and paint manufacturing facilities.
But Starr said the acquisition gives Do it Best recognition that it didn’t previously have.
“True Value is a national brand that has been around for ages,” he said. “And I look at it as a tremendous opportunity to not only care for that brand, but reinvigorate it. And so I think that’s something that’s truly unique about this deal.”
Starr previously told Inside INdiana Business after the acquisition was first announced that Do it Best has no plans to do away with the True Value name, as the more than 75-year-old brand was a key consideration in the decision to go forward with the deal.
As such, True Value will continue to operate as a separate subsidiary, Starr said Friday in a news release.
Do it Best has established a new leadership team for True Value, with Dent Johnson serving as president. Johnson previously served as executive vice president of operations for Do it Best.
“This is a generational opportunity that will shape the future of our cooperative and our industry,” Starr said in the release. “We’re focused on taking our time to get it right. We ask for patience as we integrate True Value and help everyone grow and achieve their dreams.”
Do it Best said it will continue to update store owners and vendors with the latest developments as the integration process moves forward.
We’ll have more on the acquisition on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.