Commercial Solutions Acquires Cando Oilfield Supplies

Commercial Solutions Inc. of Edmonton, Alta., completed the acquisition in September 2003 of Cando Oilfield Supplies & Services Ltd. of Nisku, Alta., an oil and gas equipment distribution company.

Commercial Solutions is a national distributor of bearing and power transmission supplies, industrial safety products and resource management equipment. It has 24 service centres located across the country.

The addition of Cando is expected to add approximately $12 million in annual revenues for Commercial. It also diversifies Commercial’s product distribution offering and adds new inside and outside sales staff and technical expertise.

“We are committed to our growth strategy and the acquisition of Cando provides significant new product expansion for our existing client base,” said James Barker, chairman of Commercial. “The proprietary knowledge that Cando’s management brings to Commercial will strengthen our market share and provide new growth opportunities.”

“We are very excited to join the Commercial group of companies,” said. Don Schnitzler, president of Cando, “We look forward to the major expansion opportunities that will come as a result of Commercial’s Canada-wide distribution channel.”

In October 2002, Commercial Solutions executed a reverse takeover of Commercial Bearing Service (1966) Ltd. (CBS). Commercial was previously known as CFE Industries Inc.

In July 2003, Commercial said that all key integration assignments, as a result of the acquisition and reverse takeover of CFE Industries Inc. and Commercial Bearing, had been successfully completed.

The integration involved the move from CFE’s Edmonton 19,000 sq ft office and warehouse to CBS’s existing Edmonton facility, negotiating and moving into a new Vancouver lease facility, the hiring of a power transmission and bearing specialist in Vancouver, and the conversion of CFE’s operational database to the CBS management information system.

Future integration projects include the expansion of CBS’s product lines into the eastern Canadian branch offices of Commercial in Montreal and Toronto.