Turtle & Hughes has expanded its business further into the New Jersey market with the acquisition of A-B Electrical Supply Co., Whippany, N.J., an $8 million in sales electrical distributor. Turtle & Hughes Inc., Linden, N.J., closed the deal with the company on Oct. 30, according to Frank Millard, company president. A-B Electrical Supply opened its doors as a Turtle & Hughes division on Nov. 2 under the name of A-B Electric. Terms for the acquisition were not disclosed. Randall W. Roessle, A-B Electrical's former president and owner, says that Turtle & Hughes approached his company with the offer. Roessle had already considered the idea with another Allen-Bradley distributor, he says.
"It's going to be increasingly difficult for small distributors to make the kind of investment that we need to survive," Roessle says explaining why he sold his company to Turtle & Hughes. "We wanted to maintain our relationship with Allen-Bradley." A-B Electrical Supply was founded in 1965. The company currently employs 20 people, all of whom will work for Turtle & Hughes, Roessle says.