One Equity Partners (OEP), a middle market private equity firm, recently announced that it has completed the acquisition of MEDCO, from Essendant, Inc. in a corporate carve-out transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

MEDCO is a wholesale distributor of automotive aftermarket tools and collision repair products, serving both traditional distribution and mobile tool dealers. The company operates 15 strategically placed warehouse locations across the U.S. and three locations in Canada, providing access to more than 100,000 SKUs from more than 400 manufacturers and next day/2-day delivery to more than 95% of North America.

MEDCO’s distributor relationships are well-rounded across the entire country with its product offering and unique services. With this versatile portfolio, MEDCO enables distributors to lower their product cost-of-acquisition and better serve their customers. The company’s long-standing vendor relationships and branded offerings enable manufacturers to lower their cost-to-serve and reach under-penetrated markets, said the company.

“We are excited to partner with the management team lead by CEO Chris Kempa and MEDCO President Andrew Keim to provide them with capital and operational resources that will allow them to pursue the next chapter of growth as an independent company,” said David Han, senior managing director at OEP. “This acquisition is well aligned with OEP’s historic focus on structuring carve-outs of attractive industrial businesses in close partnership with management teams and corporate sellers.”

“We are thrilled to become an independent company through our partnership with OEP and believe that we will be able to increase sales and expand our programs to existing and new customers based on our market-leading wholesale distribution capabilities and continued focus on providing exceptional customer service,” said Kempa.

Added Keim, “I’m very excited to continue working with Chris, and now with OEP, to leverage the talents of our organization and deliver on our vision of excellence for our customers, suppliers and team members.”