Coleman Cable announces acquisition, key organizational changes

Coleman Cable, Inc. (CCI) has acquired substantially all of the assets of Watteredge, Inc. The all-cash transaction is valued at roughly $35 million.

Cleveland, Ohio-based Watteredge is a designer and manufacturer of secondary power connectors, including electric arc furnace cables, resistance welding cables, industrial high-performance copper bus bars and accessories and other high performance power conduction products. The company has been a family owned and operated business for 30 years and its products and services are sold worldwide.

Watteredge’s had 2011 sales of nearly $25 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $6 million.

“This acquisition immediately expands our product platform and allows us to provide an entirely new line of highly engineered industrial products across a number of end markets,” said Gary Yetman, president and CEO of CCI. “Furthermore, by aligning ourselves with Watteredge, we acquire a management team with a history of delivering consistently strong financial results and proven experience in providing value-added, engineered solutions to its customers both in the United States and internationally.”

CCI plans to keep Watteredge’s workforce and will continue all production at its manufacturing plant in Avon Lake, Ohio.

In addition to the acquisition announcement, CCI also recently announced some key organizational changes to its sales and marketing management teams.

Kathy Jo Van	Kathy Jo Van has been named executive vice president of the company’s distribution group. She will serve in an expanded role and be responsible for CCI’s retail, industrial distribution and electrical distribution businesses in the United States and Canada. Van joined the company in 2000 and brought with her 13 years of experience in the electrical distribution industry. Before this appointment, Van served as the executive vice president of the retail business—a position she held since 2008. Prior to that role, Van had been vice president of electrical distribution since 2003.
Dave Oriatti	Dave Oriatti has been named vice president of product development. In this role, Oriatti will be responsible for maximizing growth, profitability and competitive strengths of new and existing industrial and assembled products across the industrial business channels. He will also work with channel leaders and customers to promote CCI products across vertical markets and develop new products. Oriatti will also oversee CCI’s specialty segment.
Gene Stang	Gene Stang has been named vice president of customer supply chain. He will be responsible for maximizing product profitability across all business channels. Stang will also manage CCI’s customer service group, serving as the liaison between customers and CCI’s engineering, manufacturing and distribution teams. He has spent 26 years with CCI and has held a variety of positions in manufacturing, sales and product management.

CCI is a manufacturer of electrical and electronic wire and cable products based in Waukegan, Ill.