News 

Chicago-based Grainger (NYSE: GWW) has acquired AnFreixo S.A., marking the distributor’s entrance into Brazil. With 2011 sales of US$37 million, AnFreixo is a broad line distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies in Brazil. 

The company had been a subsidiary in the Votorantim Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Latin America with 2011 revenues in excess of US$20 billion. Moving forward, the company will operate under the name Grainger.

The acquisition of AnFreixo provides Grainger with a solid entry point for physical operations in Brazil, the largest MRO market in Latin America. "We're excited to enter Brazil through the acquisition of AnFreixo," said Mike Pulick, president of Grainger International. "Many of Grainger's customers have operations in Brazil and they're looking to Grainger to help them keep their operations running efficiently and keep their employees safe on the job. This acquisition is a great step forward in our continued focus on meeting the needs of businesses throughout the Latin American region."                                      AnFreixo serves more than 2,000 customers from its distribution center in Sao Paulo and a team of sales professionals. Today, a significant portion of AnFreixo's sales are to affiliates of its parent company, Votorantim Industrial. As part of the transaction, Grainger announced it has entered into a long term supply agreement in which the Votorantim Group will continue to purchase MRO products from AnFreixo. 

This acquisition further builds on Grainger's international expansion and recent investments in Latin America. The company has operations in Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and has also served businesses throughout the region for more than 20 years through its export business, which includes representatives in Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Peru and Venezuela.

Grainger had 2011 sales of $8.1 billion (source: Modern Distribution Management)