WESCO raises offer to acquire Anixter

WESCO has delivered the improved proposal to the Anixter board of directors, in which the company now offers USD 93.50 per share in cash and stock. The scale, earnings power and significant free cash flow of the combined business would accelerate growth and deliver increased shareholder value, WESCO writes in a press release. This proposed transaction would bring together WESCO's and Anixter's product offerings, customer relationships, global footprint and service capabilities as well as its intellectual and human capital to create a premier electrical and data communications distribution company. WESCO's proposal of USD 93.50 in cash and stock consists of a consideration per Anixter share of USD 63.00 cash plus a fixed exchange ratio of 0.2397 shares of WESCO common stock plus USD 16.65 of a newly created class of WESCO perpetual preferred stock. "This transaction would advance WESCO's strategic objective of becoming a leading service-focused global supply chain solutions company. With increased scale, complementary capabilities and industry-leading technologies, together, we would be ideally positioned to digitize our business, expand our extensive services portfolio and supply chain offerings, and deliver solutions to our customers whenever and wherever they need them,” comments John J. Engel, WESCO's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, in the press release. WESCO anticipates the transaction could be completed in the summer of 2020, that is following Anixter's stockholder approval, as well as receiving regulatory approval in the U.S. and certain foreign jurisdictions.