What does GE Supply bring to the table in terms of customers, products and geographic territory?
Waterman: Well, certainly, it expands our footprint—particularly in the U.S. We now have operations in 45 states. [The acquisition] opens up Ireland, and GE Supply also has operations in Asia and Eastern Europe, so it fits in very nicely with Rexel worldwide. Amazingly enough, the duplication of customers is quite small in our existing business in the U.S. … GE Supply opens the door to some new markets overall and helps to strengthen the existing [business]. It also, obviously, broadens our vendor base. ID: Were there any major changes to the business as a result of the acquisition—personnel changes, branch closings, reductions in headcount? Waterman: Because of the two-brand strategy, we have no plans to change GE Supply in any significant manner. Our customer base will tell us of any business issues that could result in operational changes. But the same goes for Rexel. This is really a customer-driven business. We’ll take our lead from them. The overall management team is still in pl
