MAY 2011 VOL 66, NO. 5


News of Plumbing • Heating • Cooling • Industrial Piping Distribution


Ferguson reports revenue growth of 9%


newPort newS, Va. — ferguson’s parent company, wolseley plc, an- nounced its first-half results for the 2011 fiscal year. wolseley reported revenue increase of 5% on a like-for- like basis. ferguson’s like-for-like revenue


growth for the first six months was 9%, with a further 4% of growth due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar. (Turn to Stronger first... page 55.)


Apax Partners to acquire Activant Solutions, Epicor


PVF Hall of Fame Issue Awards given, strategies discussed


Johnstone Supply Spring Meeting focuses on market share, customer service


Portland, ore. – Johnstone Supply Inc. held its Spring Sales Planning Meeting and trade Show March 7-11 in orlando. nearly


1,000 attended the event at the Peabody Hotel, including representatives from 127 of the industry’s top vendors. the week full of activities


and strategic seminars fo- cused on assisting John- stone stores and employees in creating and taking ad- vantage of sales opportuni- ties for the summer selling season. the event also al- lowed members from


across the country to network, share best practices, and to survey new products and meet suppliers at the Vendor trade Show. Keynote speaker was Joseph a. Michelli, Ph.d., an internationally known author and organizational consultant on exceptional business practices, who spoke to the total customer experience and achieving customer service excellence. the Meeting’s official theme was “one


team, one Goal – Connect to Success.” (Turn to Spring meeting... page 55.)


Coverage begins on page 32.


Paramount Supply, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is this year’s inductee into The WhOleSaler PVF hall of Fame. Founded in 1954 by John hagen, Paramount has grown to encompass 23 locations in six states. It is now under the direction of hagen’s son-in-law Ken Grothe, whose leadership philosophy is based on what he calls the “three e’s” — educate, empower and execute — combined with building strong customer relationships.


lIVerMore, CalIf.— activant Solu- tions Inc., a leading technology provider of erP and point-of-sale software serving mid-market retailers and distributors, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds advised by apax Partners, one of the world’s leading private equity firms with a strong her- itage of technology investment. (Turn to activant part of... page 00.)


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