RS Group acquires Mexico’s Risoul for $275m

Publicado el 15 sept 2022

Allied Electronics & Automation, a trading brand of British company RS Group, which is a global omni-channel provider of product and service solutions, has reached an agreement to acquire Risoul y Cia, a Mexican, family-owned distributor of industrial and automation product and service solutions.

The deal is valued at $275 million on a cash-free and debt-free basis, and represents a value of 12x EBITDA on a 12-month basis to end-June 2022.

The acquisition of Risoul is part of RS Group's strategy to accelerate organic growth through high-quality inorganic opportunities that expand its geographic reach, extend targeted product adjacencies, and develop its product and service solutions offering.

“We are excited about deepening our presence in Mexico and having a strong platform to expand into Latin America, a region we can see benefiting from nearshoring owing to de-globalization and a greater focus on improving sustainability through reducing distances products travel,” the RS Group statement reads.

Risoul is a leading distributor of industrial and automation product and service solutions in Mexico, a highly fragmented market, with almost 50 years of operational knowledge and automation expertise, selling a range of branded products as the largest authorized Rockwell Automation distributor in Latin America, and the 10^th-largest globally.

Risoul holds the rights to distribute Rockwell's products in the main industrial areas of Mexico and has recently launched into Spain, while also providing several service solutions including onsite product training, control board and panel assembly, air conditioning maintenance, specialist tool repair and a smart network infrastructure service.

Risoul is led by CEO Gerardo Ayala Guarneri, who has been with the company for 18 years, the last five as CEO. Risoul, like RS Group, believes that having an engaged and motivated team is critical to delivering success, with a strong emphasis on training.

The acquisition of Risoul by RS Group is expected to deliver significant revenue synergies.

Combining Risoul's established presence in Mexico with RS Group's range of complementary and ancillary products, including its main own-brand RS PRO, will support increased average order value for existing customers, RS Group said.

For the year ended 30 September 2021, Risoul generated revenue of $166 million and EBIT of $19 million.