Itochu Announces Divestiture of North American Building Materials Distributor to Platinum Equity

ITOCHU Corporation (headquarters in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereafter “ITOCHU”) and ITOCHU International Inc. announced today that ITOCHU has reached an agreement with Platinum Equity, a Los Angeles based global private equity firm, under which Platinum Equity will acquire PrimeSource Building Products, Inc.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including legal procedures and approval by antitrust authorities, and is expected to close promptly upon receiving the necessary approvals.

PrimeSource was acquired by ITOCHU Group in 1998 and has been a valuable asset for ITOCHU over the last 17 years. Yasuyuki Harada, President & CEO, ITOCHU International Inc. said, “We are confident that PrimeSource will continue to thrive under Platinum Equity’s ownership, and will benefit from the increasingly strong growth of the U.S. housing market. ITOCHU plans to commit the capital from the transaction to new investments.”

Platinum Equity partner Jacob Kotzubei, who leads the Platinum Equity team pursuing the acquisition, said, “The opportunity to acquire PrimeSource is attractive for multiple reasons.  The business is an industry leader with powerful brands and a strong culture. We look forward to working with the PrimeSource leadership team to help the business reach new heights and maximize its potential.”

Platinum Equity specializes in executing divestiture transactions from large global corporations such as ITOCHU. 

In recent years, Platinum Equity has completed acquisitions from AP Moeller Maersk, Caterpillar, CBS, Deutsche Post DHL, Emerson, Telstra and Volvo.

“We are grateful to ITOCHU, and extremely excited with the prospect of new ownership under Platinum Equity,” said PrimeSource Co-CEO David Fishbein. “Like PrimeSource, Platinum Equity is focused on maintaining operational excellence and executing growth initiatives and is willing to help us go to great lengths for the sake of our customers.”

PrimeSource Co-CEO Bob Furio added, “Our affiliation with ITOCHU supported the development of our global relationships. ITOCHU’s backing allowed us to better serve our existing customers, as well as to expand into new markets including Canada and the Caribbean. We all look forward with tremendous excitement to the new PrimeSource with Platinum Equity.”

Fishbein reaffirmed that customers and suppliers of PrimeSource should expect normal business operations to continue throughout the course of the transaction.

Business Impact

The transfer of shares is expected in Q2 2015. The impact of results on FY 2015 is still under review.

PrimeSource Corporate Profile

         Company Name：  PrimeSource Building Products, Inc.

Headquarters：      Dallas, Texas, U.S.

Founded:                1990

Business:               North America buildings material distributor

          URL:                       https://www.primesourcebp.com

Advisors

J.P. Morgan served as exclusive financial advisor to ITOCHU, and its legal counsel was Covington & Burling. Deutsche Bank and other underwriters will assist Platinum Equity with the debt financing. 

Media contacts:

ITOCHU Public Relations department: Washiyama

TEL：03-3497-7293

Dan Whelan

Platinum Equity

310-282-9202

dwhelan@platinumequity.com