In what it's calling a "defensive move," Lennox Retail is negotiating to buy about 75 of Lennox's biggest dealers, said Jim Mishler, president of Lennox Retail. The division currently owns 47 dealers, all of them in Canada. Lennox has about 6,000 independent dealers.
Mishler believes Lennox can close on more than 50 of the purchases this year. Lennox wants to buy the dealers before somebody else does.