Audax Agrees to Sell GCG to Rexel for $1.4 Billion

Rexel, a Paris-based distributor of electrical products, has agreed to acquire GCG, a Chicago-based distributor of specialty wire, cable and connectivity products and a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, at an enterprise value of $1.4 billion. Audax acquired the business in 2019 as part of its carve-out of Genuine Parts’ Electrical Specialties Group and completed 12 acquisitions during its seven-year hold.

GCG buys wire, cable and connectivity products from manufacturers and gets them ready for installation before they reach the customer. It cuts cable to length, prints and strips it, builds custom assemblies and wiring harnesses, and packages parts into kits. The idea is simple: an electrician working on a data center floor gets cable that is ready to pull. Its products range from portable cord and medium-voltage power cable to fiber-optic components and are sold under brands including AWC Wire, CableMaster, Olympic Wire, Paige, RWL and United WC.

GCG’s Connectivity & Power Solutions segment customizes cable for defense, rail, marine and manufacturing customers. Its Custom Engineered Solutions business sells products GCG designs itself, including MAXIAMP cable bus systems, enclosed conductors that carry heavy electrical loads through data centers and power plants in place of bundles of cable. More than 60% of GCG’s revenue comes from data centers, power and utility infrastructure, grid modernization, communications and defense.

GCG was formed in 2014, when EIS, then a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company, combined three specialty wire businesses — Seacoast, Cobra Wire & Cable and ElectroWire — under the Genuine Cable Group name. Genuine Parts sold its Electrical Specialties Group to Audax in September 2019. Audax subsequently operated GCG and EIS as separate platforms and sold EIS to Searchlight Capital Partners in November 2024.

Today, Chicago-headquartered GCG has approximately 950 employees across 16 locations in North America and Europe. Glenn Pennycook became chief executive in March 2025 after spending five years as CEO of sister company EIS under Audax ownership.

GCG expects 2026 revenue of more than $1.1 billion at an EBITA margin of about 11%, implying EBITA of roughly $121 million. Rexel has not disclosed GCG’s standalone EBITDA, but adding an estimated $10 million to $20 million of depreciation puts EBITDA at approximately $130 million to $140 million and values the company at roughly 10x to 11x EBITDA based on the $1.4 billion enterprise value.

Rexel puts the purchase price at less than 8x 2026 EBITDA after anticipated run-rate cost savings, which it has not quantified. The company plans to fund the acquisition with cash on hand, approximately €800 million of debt and an equity offering of up to €500 million.

“This is an exciting milestone for GCG and a testament to the strength of our business, our culture, and, most importantly, our people,” said Mr. Pennycook. “With the support of Audax, we’ve built a differentiated business with strong technical capabilities, deep customer and supplier relationships, and a track record of growth. We believe Rexel’s strategic focus and commitment to customers and suppliers make them the right partner to continue that momentum, while creating new opportunities for our associates, customers, and supplier partners.”

“The sale of GCG marks a tremendous outcome for the company, its employees, as well as our investors,” said Don Bramley, a partner at Audax. “Glenn and the management team have proven to be exceptional partners whose vision, leadership and execution helped position GCG as a leader in its markets. This exit helps demonstrate the power of our Buy & Build strategy, coupled with the disciplined execution of the Audax Value Agenda, to grow and build strategic assets. We want to sincerely thank the management team and employees of GCG whose collaboration and dedication over the past seven years helped to underpin the company’s transformation.”

GCG completed 12 acquisitions under Audax. Among them were Allied Wire and Cable, a Pennsylvania-based specialty wire distributor (2021); Paige Electric, a New Jersey-based supplier of wire used in irrigation, datacom and renewable energy (2022); RWL Advanced Solutions, an Ireland-based distributor of data-networking products (2023); United Wire & Cable, a Toronto-based maker of cable bus power systems (2026); and CableMaster, a Wisconsin-based maker of cord sets and wire harnesses (2026).

GCG also built an industrial automation business through Empire, its legacy automation operation; Advanced Controls and Distribution/Adcon Engineering and C&E Advanced Technologies, both added in 2021; Professional Control Corporation, acquired in 2022; and Neff Power, added in 2023. GCG sold the business, known as Automation & Factory Solutions, to SunSource in July 2026 as it sharpened its focus on specialty wire and cable.

“Over the past several years, our team has transformed GCG into one of the leading platforms in our space serving some of the fastest-growing end markets in industrial distribution,” said Mr. Pennycook. “Audax has been a thoughtful and collaborative partner throughout its ownership and brought insights and resources to bear that allowed GCG to pursue such an ambitious vision for growth. We’re excited about what the future holds as we embark on our next chapter as part of Rexel.”

Rexel (Euronext Paris: RXL) sells electrical products through 1,876 branches in 17 countries and had 2025 sales of about $22.7 billion. North America accounted for 47% of first-half 2026 sales through brands including Rexel, Gexpro and Platt. GCG is Rexel’s fourth North American acquisition of 2026, following TC 360, Revere Electrical Supply and DEE Electronics. The deal also moves Rexel further into engineered and customized cable for data centers and power infrastructure. GCG expects an EBITA margin of about 11%, compared with Rexel’s adjusted EBITA margin of 6.2% in the first half of 2026.

“The acquisition of GCG is an exciting and major step forward in Rexel’s strategy,” said Guillaume Texier, the chief executive officer of Rexel. “It significantly expands our addressable market, strengthening our position in key, fast-growing segments. It moves Rexel into higher-value parts of the infrastructure value chain and creates a more complete offering across electrical power and digital connectivity. It is financially attractive, immediately accretive to adjusted earnings and to Rexel’s EBITA margin, with substantial additional value creation potential from synergies and commercial expansion.”

The U.S. wire and cable market is worth between $33.5 billion and $37.0 billion, according to Grand View Research and Mordor Intelligence, with both firms projecting annual growth of 5% to 6% over the next five years. Mordor estimates that about 70% of U.S. transmission lines are more than 25 years old. Data centers are another source of demand. McKinsey projects a U.S. data center power deficit of more than 15 gigawatts by 2030. A shortage of electricians also favors distributors such as GCG that deliver cable pre-cut, prepared and kitted for installation.

Competitors include Wesco International, a Pittsburgh-based distributor founded in 1922 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange; Graybar, an employee-owned St. Louis distributor founded in 1869; and OmniCable, a West Chester, Pennsylvania-based wire and cable distributor owned by Dot Family Holdings since 2019.

Recent private equity transactions include Nautic Partners’ LindFast Solutions Group acquisition of Northbrook, Illinois-based AZ Wire & Cable from MFG Partners in January 2026, and OmniCable’s August 2026 acquisition of North Chicago-based Kingwire from Kinderhook Industries.

“GCG also brings high-quality, talented teams with a strong reputation with customers, suppliers and partners, which will be key assets as we build a leading specialty infrastructure platform together,” added Mr. Texier. “The acquisition of GCG, an exceptional platform combining strong growth, an attractive margin profile and differentiated capabilities is fully in line with Rexel’s Axelerate 28 strategy, which aims at shaping our portfolio towards more growth and more value-added, and is a significant step in the direction of achieving our mid-term objectives.”

Boston-based Audax makes control investments in middle-market companies with EBITDA of $20 million to $100 million and enterprise values of $200 million to $1 billion through its flagship strategy. Sectors of interest include business services, financial services, healthcare, industrials, and software and technology. Audax is currently investing from its seventh flagship fund, which closed at its hard cap in July 2023 with $5.25 billion.

The sale of GCG is the seventh realization from Audax’s flagship strategy that the firm has announced or completed so far in 2026, following Colony Hardware, Alliance Ground International, FDH Aero, Harbourfront Wealth Group, StatLab Medical Products and Flow Control Holdings.

“Our recent realizations reflect the rigor, resources and discipline we bring to executing the Audax Value Agenda,” said Young Lee, a partner and co-president of Audax. “Our systematic approach and depth of resources can also position us to drive durable growth through market cycles.”

Solomon Partners and J.P. Morgan were the financial advisors to GCG and Audax. Guggenheim Securities and Rothschild & Co were the financial advisors to Rexel.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026.