Grainger Announces Agreement to Divest Fabory

CHICAGO, June 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grainger GWW, the leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products serving businesses and institutions, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Fabory Group (Fabory) to Torqx Capital Partners, a Dutch private equity company.  

Grainger will continue offering broad line MRO products to customers in Western Europe through Cromwell and Zoro. 

"I want to thank the Fabory team for their innovative and customer-focused approach," said DG Macpherson, Chairman and CEO of Grainger.  "I'm confident the acquisition by Torqx will better align with Fabory's growth objectives.  At the same time, Grainger remains focused on providing value to our customers, executing our strategy and delivering profitable growth through our high-touch and endless assortment offerings."

Harmen Geerts, Managing Partner of Torqx, commented: "Based on our extensive experience and strong track record with technical distribution businesses, we see a strong fit between Fabory and Torqx.  We can help the company to strengthen its position as leading fastener specialist in its core markets and achieve its full potential."

The transaction is not subject to any financing condition but is subject to the standard regulatory approvals.  This deal is expected to close in the coming months.

Safe Harbor Statement
All statements in this communication, other than those relating to historical facts, are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by their use of terms such as "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "expect," "could," "forecast," "may," "intend," "plan," "predict," "project" "will" or "would" and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future strategic plans and future financial and operating results. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others: the unknown duration and economic, operational and financial impacts of the global outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19 pandemic) and the actions taken or contemplated by governmental authorities or others in connection with the pandemic on the company's businesses, its employees, customers and suppliers, including the uncertain duration of mandated shut-downs for our customers and suppliers, changes in our customers' product needs, our suppliers' inability to meet unprecedented demand for COVID-19 related products, the potential for government action to allocate or direct products to certain customers which may cause disruption in our relationships with other customers, and disruption caused by business responses to COVID-19, including working remote arrangements, which may create increased vulnerability to cybersecurity incidents; higher product costs or other expenses; a major loss of customers; loss or disruption of sources of supply; increased competitive pricing pressures; failure to develop or implement new technology initiatives or business strategies; failure to adequately protect intellectual property or successfully defend against infringement claims; fluctuations or declines in the company's gross profit percentage; the company's responses to market pressures; the outcome of pending and future litigation or governmental or regulatory proceedings, including with respect to wage and hour, anti-bribery and corruption, environmental, advertising, consumer protection, pricing (including disaster or emergency declaration pricing statutes), product liability, safety or compliance, or privacy and cybersecurity matters; investigations, inquiries, audits and changes in laws and regulations; failure to comply with laws, regulations and standards; government contract matters; disruption of information technology or data security systems involving us or third parties on which we depend; general industry, economic, market or political conditions; general global economic conditions including tariffs and trade issues and policies; currency exchange rate fluctuations; market volatility, including volatility or price declines of the company's common stock; commodity price volatility; labor shortages; facilities disruptions or shutdowns; higher fuel costs or disruptions in transportation services; pandemic diseases or viral contagions; natural and other catastrophes; unanticipated and/or extreme weather conditions; loss of key members of management; our ability to operate, integrate and leverage acquired businesses; changes in effective tax rates; changes in credit ratings or outlook; the company's incurrence of indebtedness and other factors which can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent periodic reports filed on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, which are available on our Investor Relations website. Forward-looking statements are given only as of the date of this communication and we disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

About Grainger
W.W. Grainger, Inc., with 2019 sales of $11.5 billion, is North America's leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products, with operations primarily in North America, Japan and Europe.

About Torqx Capital Partners
Torqx Capital Partners is a Benelux-based private equity company that invests in medium-sized companies with significant value creation potential. Situations include growth-, buy-and-build-, performance improvement-, turnaround- and transformational investments across a range of industries including manufacturing, distribution and services. Torqx acquires majority positions based on a partnership with co-shareholders and management teams, offering the companies smart capital, network, expertise and talent to support implementation of their plans and achieve their full potential. The Torqx team consists of 12 highly experienced and skilled professionals who look beyond spreadsheets and understand what it takes to build businesses and increase momentum. Torqx currently invests out of a € 150 million fund backed by reputable international institutional investors and the Torqx team itself. For more information please visit www.torqxcapital.com

About Fabory
Fabory is a leading specialist supplier of fasteners and fastener related products in the Benelux with a pan-European presence. Fabory sources a broad assortment of high quality and mission-critical fasteners from suppliers worldwide and distributes to over 60,000 customers throughout Europe. Its client base ranks from blue chip to SME across various end markets, including machine building, electrical appliances, automotive and construction. With its broad one-stop-shop offering of over 400,000 products, Fabory combines a deep technical knowledge with smart inventory management solutions and a high degree of availability to provide its customers with efficient and convenient fastener related solutions. Fabory employs c. 1,100 FTE. For more information please visit www.fabory.com.

SOURCE W.W. Grainger, Inc.