Interline Brands Files for IPO

Interline Brands Inc., a national distributor and direct marketer of electrical supplies and other maintenance, repair and operations products, said its newly formed corporation has filed for an initial public offering of the parent's common stock.

Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Interline Brands, which has 2,200 employees and annual sales of more than $635 million, sells more than 45,000 plumbing, hardware, electrical, janitorial and related products through more than 60 distribution centers to professional contractors, facilities maintenance professionals, hardware stores and other customers across North America and Central America. The company ranks eighth on Industrial Distribution magazine's “The Big 50” listing of the largest industrial distributors in North America.

Interline Brands has quietly built up its electrical product offering. The company bought Florida Lighting Inc., a distributor of specialty lighting and electrical products in Pompano Beach, in 2003. Its foray into the electrical market is bolstered by a stable of well-known electrical brands and includes products from Thomas & Betts, Westinghouse, Square D, GE, Eagle/Cooper Wiring Devices, Steel City, Carlon, Leviton and Pass & Seymour. Interline Brands sells these products and other MRO supplies through catalogs and Web sites operated by its Wilmar, Barnett, Hardware Express and Maintenance USA business.

Interline was formed through a series of mergers that combined over 20 companies in the plumbing supply and facilities maintenance industries.