AFFILIATED DISTRIBUTORS & AMAROK DRYWALL COOPERATIVE MERGE

The addition of the new AMAROK Drywall Division to A-D brings new opportunities for the drywall group and added economic value for new and existing A-D Members.

WAYNE, Pa. - July 8, 2008  -- Affiliated Distributors (A-D) announced today that the AMAROK Drywall Cooperative located in Chandler, Arizona, has voted to join A-D and become a new A-D Division.  The agreement is effective July 1.

Founded in 1996, AMAROK serves more than 165 independent distributors with more than 293 locations nationwide representing $2 billion in sales. Under the agreement, AMAROK will become the AMAROK Division of A-D focusing on drywall and a wide range of drywall related products. The Division will be led by Jeff Jenkins, Senior Vice President of the AMAROK Division and the former President and CEO of the AMAROK Cooperative.

"We looked at the 27-year old history of A-D, talked to its members and vendors and did our due diligence," Jenkins said. "Based on our review, we concluded that the best opportunity to achieve AMAROK'S vision of the future is to join with A-D, the largest wholesale buying and marketing group in North America.  Like AMAROK, A-D is committed to the success of the independent distributor."

Bob Motz, President of RM Supply and an AMAROK founder and past Board Member, said that while AMAROK had accomplished "far more" than what was expected at its creation, the leadership and membership can't afford to be satisfied with the status quo.  "This is the next step in our evolution, and it's critical for AMAROK to remain strong and viable in the future. Joining A-D improves our standing in the industry, and makes our members stronger, better business people," he said.

The merger, A-D's fifth in the last 15 years, brings A-D's representation of independent distributors to over 530 companies with more than 3,000 locations in the United States and Canada.  A-D's membership commands over $27 billion in sales in six industries: electrical supplies, industrial supplies, plumbing supplies, HVAC equipment and supplies, pipe valve and fittings and drywall and drywall related products.  While all of these Divisions are united under the A-D umbrella, each Division is member-governed through a Divisional Board of Directors that represents the members of their Division. Each member remains responsible for decisions impacting their day-to-day business operations.

Using a common back office to serve multiple industries allows A-D to utilize economies of scale to spread infrastructure costs across all of its Divisions. This makes participation in A-D an extremely cost-effective solution for the Independent Distributor.  It also enables A-D to provide superior financial returns than each of the five member-owned cooperatives that merged into A-D.

Bill Weisberg, A-D CEO, said the merger will benefit both the AMAROK membership and the existing A-D membership.  "AMAROK is a solid group of Independent Distributors with strong Supplier partners.  The new Division will lower costs and improve the economic returns, programs and services we provide to new and existing members as well as further diversify our end-user base," he said. "We are excited about the future of the new AMAROK Division of A-D, and we welcome the new Division and their members aboard."