Highsmith, a direct marketer of supplies, furniture and equipment to public and school libraries throughout the U.S., was bought by Lab Safety Supply, a division of industrial equipment supplier W.W. Grainger.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the merger is expected to add up to $30 million to Lab Safety Supply’s sales in 2008.
Grainger spokesperson Robb Kristopher says Highsmith was appealing because “LSS has historically been weighted in manufacturing equipment … and we have been making a conscious effort to diversify away from that.”
Kristopher says there are synergies to be gained in that Lab Safety can now sell both lab safety products and library products into public and private schools concurrently.