VAD and Exotic merge to build super-regional fluid power distributor
What's the deal? Value Added DistributorsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (VAD), a portfolio company of Rotunda Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, is merging with Exotic Automation & SupplyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to create a super-regional industrial fluid power and automation distributor. The combined company will span the Midwest, Southern US, Michigan, and Indiana. Terms were not disclosed.
Who's who? VAD, founded in 1995 and based in Shawano, Wisconsin, distributes hoses, tubes, seals, and couplings to specialty vehicle makers and mobile fluid power users across 18 facilities. Exotic, founded in 1963, provides motion and control solutions from 20 locations, serving the industrial maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) market.
Why now? VAD partnered with Rotunda in 2024 with the goal of building a national, value-added distribution platform. Chief executive officer Mike Kostelnik, who will lead the combined company, called the deal "an historic event," noting both firms are among the most respected Parker HannifinDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → distributors in the US.
What changes? Leadership from both companies stays on. Tom Marino, Exotic's CEO, becomes a significant equity holder and board member; Steve Orlando, Exotic's president, becomes president of the combined company.
What's the endgame? The merger gives the business a broader vendor and customer base, a multi-facility footprint, and expanded services such as vendor managed inventory (VMI) and kitting. "Integrated, we become a super-regional, scaled industrial fluid power and automation distributor and fabricator," Orlando said.
The signal: The tie-up reflects continued consolidation among industrial distributors chasing scale, wider product portfolios, and stronger back-office systems in fluid power and automation.
Read more: Associated Press
Image credit: BLM Oregon & Washington
