Hills Distribution adds national ecommerce reach with PEXUniverse
The addition of PEXUniverse gives the Northeast distribution group an established national online channel alongside its 40-location branch network.
Hills Distribution has added PEXUniverse to its growing portfolio of plumbing, heating and HVAC distribution businesses, extending the group beyond its Northeast branch network with an established national ecommerce operation.
The companies described the deal as a partnership and referred to it as a transaction. Financial terms and the ownership structure were not disclosed.
Brooklyn-based PEXUniverse is a pure-play ecommerce distributor carrying approximately 8,000 products. It serves customers across the United States from its distribution facility and has operated for almost two decades.
Its existing leadership will remain with the business. Mariya Pylypyuk will serve as general manager and continue to lead PEXUniverse alongside the current management team.
The addition takes Hills Distribution to five operating brands. PEXUniverse joins Plimpton & Hills, Coastal Supply Group, RJ Murray Company and Bender Plumbing Supply. Together, the existing businesses operate from 40 locations across the Northeast.
Each business retains its brand, leadership and way of operating while receiving support from the broader Hills platform, which is backed by Grove Mountain Partners.
A different route to expansion
Hills has largely grown by bringing established regional distributors into its portfolio. PEXUniverse adds something different: national reach through an existing ecommerce model.
That gives Hills another route to customers without requiring it to build a comparable physical branch network across the country. It also gives the group access to an online business with its own product expertise, customer base, fulfilment operation and record of digital growth.
“PEXUniverse brings a differentiated capability to Hills and expands our participation in one of the fastest-growing channels within plumbing and HVAC distribution,” Hills Distribution Chairman Jon Perry said in the announcement.
The immediate story is the expansion of the Hills portfolio. The longer-term opportunity will depend on how the companies use their combined capabilities.
Hills could potentially support PEXUniverse with broader supplier relationships, purchasing scale and access to products across its regional businesses. PEXUniverse, in turn, brings experience in reaching and serving customers nationally through ecommerce.
That does not necessarily mean combining every system or presenting every business through one customer experience. Hills has deliberately maintained separate brands and operating models across its portfolio.
The more important questions are practical ones: whether the companies can expand the online assortment, improve inventory access, strengthen fulfilment and create useful cross-selling opportunities without weakening what already makes PEXUniverse successful.
For other distributors, the transaction shows that M&A can add a new sales model as well as geographic scale. Buying branches is one route to growth. Adding an established digital distributor may offer another.