DCC chief executive Donal Murphy has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for December, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.
The Irish energy and services group acquired Almo Corporation, the largest distributor of appliances and consumer electronics in the US, during the month in a deal worth $610 million (€542 million).
The transaction represented Dublin-based DCC’s largest acquisition to date and effectively doubles the size of its footprint in the US.
DCC said the Almo business was acquired in a “bilateral transaction” from the Chaiken family, who have owned and managed it since its foundation 75 years ago, and was based on an enterprise value for Almo of $610 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
Mr Murphy described it as a “synergistic acquisition” that would significantly boost its North American technology business and was “consistent with our ambition to really scale our operations” in technology and healthcare.
“It will create the leading, specialist pro AV player in the US, as well as providing the group with real scale across the ecommerce and consumer channels, through Almo’s significant presence in the growing lifestyle, consumer appliance and electronics markets,” Mr Murphy said.
