Ferguson Enterprises announced that on November 30, 2005, members of John H. Frischkorn, Jr., Inc.'s employee stock ownership plan voted to approve the merger of Frischkorn with Ferguson. As reported in last month's edition, the two companies had entered into an agreement to merge pending the ESOP's approval.

Frischkorn is a PVF distributor headquartered in Richmond, VA and with 14 locations throughout Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland and Kentucky. For the fiscal year ending October 31, 2004, the company reported sales of $85 million and has forecasted the current fiscal year sales to approach $100 million. Frischkorn employs 215 associates, and Frischkorn's senior management team, including Larry Pearson, president, and Mike Horner, chief executive officer, will remain with the business.

“This is a great opportunity for all Frischkorn associates,” Pearson said. “Maintaining the Frischkorn brand as we continue to provide value to our industrial customers and suppliers was very important to us. Having the resources and financial strength available to us from such a highly respected distributor as Ferguson and its parent company, Wolseley, will certainly accelerate our industrial growth opportunities.”

“The addition of Frischkorn to the Ferguson and Wolseley families will allow us to further establish ourselves in the industrial business along the eastern seaboard,” said Ferguson CEO John Stegeman.

Pictured, left to right: John Cudzik, acquisitions manager, Ferguson; Larry Pearson, president, Frischkorn; Mike Horner, chairmen, Frischkorn; Jack Clark, Frischkorn board member; Susanne Park, acquisitions analyst, Ferguson; Terry Hall, vice president & general counsel, Ferguson; Dwight Payne, CFO, Frischkorn; Linda Van Dyke, paralegal, Ferguson; and Vic Kitchen, vice president/operations, Frischkorn.