THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 5, 1996 TAG: 9609050613
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 38 lines
Norfolk Wire & Electronics, one of the mid-Atlantic's largest independent distributors of computer-wiring and cable products, has been sold to a fast-growing Illinois company for $8 million.
Anicom Inc. of Rosemont, Ill., said it will keep Norfolk Wire's six offices and 115 employees, including about 70 in Virginia Beach, as it seeks to build a nationwide distribution network.
``We're buying the talent. We surely don't want to lose it,'' Don Welchko, Anicom's vice president and chief financial officer, said. Norfolk Wire's chief executive and majority owner, Ron Hurley, will stay on with Anicom as vice president of the mid-Atlantic region, Welchko said.
Norfolk Wire had revenues of about $20 million in its last fiscal year from sales of a wide range of wire and cable products, largely for computer networks. Besides Virginia Beach, it has offices in Newport News, Richmond, Charlottesville, Gaithersburg, Md., and Tinton Falls, N.J.
Anicom had sales last year of $28 million. But it has snapped up seven wire and cable distributors since last July. Analysts have predicted it will post revenues of about $115 million in 1996.
The company's stock is publicly traded on the NASDAQ market. Anicom's stock closed Wednesday at $17.25, down 50 cents.
Anicom said it paid for Norfolk Wire with a combination of cash and its own stock. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Norfolk Wire & Electronics
What: A distributor of computer-wiring and cable products.
Where: Offices in Virginia Beach, Newport News, Tinton Falls,
N.J. and Gaithersburg, Md.
Employees: 115
Revenue: $20 million in latest fiscal year by CNB