Rexel agrees to buy GCG at US$1.4B enterprise value
Rexel plans about €800M in cash and debt and may raise up to €500M in equity before a targeted 2026 year-end close.
Ines Halvorsen
By Dec. 31, 2026, a deal valuing GCG at about US$1.4 billion is targeted to close after Rexel EPARXL agreed on Friday to buy privately held GCG, according to Rexel's Sept. 25 release. Rexel plans to fund about €800 million of the purchase with existing cash and debt and may seek up to €500 million through an equity offering, putting holders in line for a possible new share issue. The seller is Audax Private Equity, and completion requires customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
Rexel shares stood at €36.31 in Paris at 5:35 p.m. CEST on Sept. 25 EPARXL. That quotation preceded the deal announcement and cannot measure the market's response to it.
The agreement assigns GCG an enterprise value of approximately US$1.4 billion. Rexel put the price at less than eight times GCG's estimated 2026 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization after leases, including anticipated run-rate synergies. It expects the purchase to add to earnings per share in its first year and create value by year three.
As of Rexel's Sept. 25 release, GCG operated 16 sites and employed about 950 people. The buyer expects GCG's 2026 revenue to exceed US$1.1 billion and its EBITA margin to reach about 11 per cent. Both figures are Rexel's forecasts for GCG.
Rexel says GCG has delivered double-digit annual revenue growth since 2019. It expects cost savings from purchasing scale, logistics changes and bringing some functions in-house, but the release does not quantify the savings.
"It moves Rexel into higher-value parts of the infrastructure value chain and creates a more complete offering across electrical power and digital connectivity," Rexel chief executive Guillaume Texier said in the release.
GCG Supplies Engineered Cable and Power Products
GCG distributes specialty wire, cable and connectivity products and provides custom assembly, modification and testing, Rexel says. More than 75 per cent of its revenue includes value-added products or services. More than 60 per cent is exposed to sectors Rexel calls high growth, including data centres, power and utility infrastructure, grid modernization and defense.
North American distributor Wesco International, Inc. NYSEWCC reported US$4.3 billion in data-centre sales for 2025, up about 50 per cent from 2024.
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Rexel's Sept. 25 financing plan does not divide the roughly €800 million between cash and borrowings. Its proposed equity sale remains subject to market conditions, so the release sets no issue price or final share count. The company said its financing plan targets a net financial debt / EBITDAaL ratio around 2x from 2027 onward. It also wants to maintain a dividend payout of at least 40 per cent.
Rexel's board has unanimously approved the purchase, while the release leaves the regulatory authorities and their decision dates unspecified. The next dated milestone is Rexel's target to close the GCG acquisition by Dec. 31, 2026, once the required approvals and other closing conditions are met.
