Avnet and Molex Celebrate 25-Year Business Relationship

PHOENIX & LISLE, Ill. -- Global electronic component distributor Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), and electronic connector manufacturer Molex Incorporated (NASDAQ:MOLX) are celebrating their alliance that began in 1982.

A quarter-century ago, John Krehbiel, Jr., then president of Molex’s Americas division, and Bill Cacciatore, then senior vice president of Avnet, Inc., signed what was at that time the largest distribution agreement in the history of the electronics industry, opening a new sales channel through the Avnet companies - Hamilton/Avnet, Time Electronics, Fisher Brownell and Brownell Electro - for Molex’s standard connector products.

Five years later, Krehbiel, in a speech given at the Electronic Distribution Show in Las Vegas, urged electronic component distributors to go global. By then, Molex was well positioned in the key international markets, often with facilities right down the street from its customers.

In 1991, Avnet made its first non-U.S. acquisition, electronic component distribution company The Access Group in the UK. Throughout the rest of the decade, the company acquired 31 more distributors in Europe, the U.S., Asia and South America, on its way to going global.

Today, both companies serve customers in more than 60 countries.

The two companies celebrated at a gathering at Molex’s global headquarters in Lisle, Ill., and marked the landmark signing of the multi-company distribution agreement 25 years ago as well as the approximately $700 million in sales of Molex products generated by Avnet to date.

Molex’s core mission is to develop innovative products and new solutions for changing customer needs. Avnet markets those products to more than 10,000 accounts, and over the years has had a dramatic, positive impact on our ability to serve small- and medium-sized customers,’ said Molex CEO Martin Slark.

’The 21st century global distributors are much more than ’middle men’ who inventory and ship products,’ said Avnet Electronics Marketing’s Global President Harley Feldberg. ’We are value-added solutions providers, supply- and design-chain experts and logistics specialists. As the electronics industry has evolved, so has distribution. We reside in a unique position in the middle of the supply chain and thus enjoy a great vantage point. As the needs of suppliers - like Molex - and customers change, we adapt accordingly.’

’Everyone at Molex and Avnet agrees it’s all about our talented employees globally who operate in very similar cultures and who exhibit passion for innovation and serving the customer, regardless of where they do business,’ Slark added.