Interline funded the $70 million transaction with borrowings under its existing senior credit facility, including a new $50 million term loan. The company expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings in 2005.

"The acquisition of Copperfield fits well with our strategy of acquiring businesses with leadership positions in residential repair markets. We were attracted to Copperfield because of its strong catalog brand, national distribution coverage, and EBITDA margins exceeding 20 percent," said Michael Grebe, president and chief executive officer of Interline Brands. "We were able to acquire Copperfield at an attractive price, and believe the acquisition offers numerous ways to grow sales and improve profitability.

"Copperfield's strengths in direct marketing and multi-channel sales fit extremely well with our operations and our culture. This acquisition enables us to continue to expand our HVAC business, and provides purchasing leverage and sourcing opportunities. Our goal is to utilize the existing Interline Brands infrastructure to improve operations, to expand our addressable market, and to cross sell items to Copperfield's customer base from the expansive Interline product offering," added Grebe. "We are very pleased to have the Copperfield management team join Interline Brands."

Founded in 1979, Copperfield serves a broad range of specialty contractors and other distributors, operating six distribution centers throughout the United States. The company offers more than 5,000 brand name and private label repair and replacement items including chimney replacement and relining products, specialty ventilation components, hearth products, and gas and electrical appliances.

Publication date: 07/18/2005