MORSCO to acquire North Carolina waterworks distributor

Fort Worth-based MORSCO, a distributor of commercial and residential plumbing products, heating and cooling equipment, and pipe, valves and fittings, said it will acquire Fortiline Waterworks, a portfolio company of CHS Capital LLC of Chicago and one of the largest waterworks distributors in the United States, for an undisclosed amount.

MORSCO is a portfolio company of global private equity firm Advent International. Advent will make a new equity investment to support the acquisition.

The transaction is expected to close by Oct. 31.

Mike Swedick will remain president and CEO of Fortiline, which will continue to operate as a standalone company, responsible for the waterworks supplies distribution inside of MORSCO.

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Fortiline Waterworks, founded in 1997, is headquartered in Concord, N.C., and distributes through a network of 42 branches in 12 states in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

MORSCO was founded nearly 100 years ago in Fort Worth and today has more than 140 branch locations, more than $1 billion in sales and more than 2,000 associates in 12 states. The company’s family of operating units consists of Express Pipe & Supply (California); Farnsworth Wholesale Company (Arizona); Morrison Supply Co. (Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, Kansas); Murray Supply Co. (North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia); Wholesale Specialties (Colorado); DeVore & Johnson (Georgia); and MORSCO’s premier showroom offering in these markets, Expressions Home Gallery.