Private Equity Trends in Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods

Overview

The Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods industry, essential for sectors including pharmaceuticals, grocery, agriculture, retail, hospitality, and manufacturing, involves the distribution of consumer and industrial products such as food, apparel, chemicals, and petroleum. Industry growth is primarily driven by evolving consumer preferences toward convenience, rapid advancements in logistics and inventory management technology, and increasing demand for sustainable and health-conscious products. 

For M&A professionals, consolidation in this industry offers strategic opportunities to enhance supply chain efficiencies, expand geographic market reach, and integrate specialized distribution capabilities. Companies frequently pursue acquisitions aimed at vertical integration to secure supply chains, optimize distribution channels, and broaden product offerings. Pharmaceutical wholesalers attract notable acquisition interest due to consistent healthcare demand, while grocery wholesalers present opportunities linked to rising consumer preference for fresh, organic, and specialty foods. Furthermore, regulatory pressures emphasizing sustainability and traceability compel companies to acquire operations that improve environmental compliance and respond to eco-conscious consumer expectations. The sector’s critical function across diverse end markets underscores its appeal for strategic acquisitions driven by geographic expansion, specialized expertise, and strengthened supply chain resilience. 

Sub-Sectors

Historical PE Investments in Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods

Private equity’s appetite for acquisition in this space has shifted over these two decades. Most notably, private equity firms have decreased their collective interest in beer, wine and alcoholic beverage wholesalers and have increased their interest in grocery wholesalers. 

Private equity’s interest in wholesalers peaked around 2002 with consistent declining interest (as a percentage of all PE deals) from 2002 to 2024. The rise of e-commerce and lower margins of wholesalers largely explains this downward trend. 

Market Summary (2001 - 2025)

• 4,033 - Platform investments
• 2,802 - Add-on investments
• 2,147 - Total unique private equity firms invested 

Top 5 Private Equity Firms Invested in Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods

Measured by the number of deals in Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods.

1. Carlyle Group, The (Washington, DC) 
2. Advent International (Boston, MA) 
3. Sun Capital Partners (Boca Raton, FL) 
4. TPG (Fort Worth, TX) 
5. H.I.G. Capital (Miami, FL)  

Geographical Distribution

Sample Private Equity Investments in our Database

March 2025 

Plexus Capital partnered with AEG Petroleum (Amarillo, TX). 

AEG Petroleum, LLC is a family-owned and operated petroleum distributor. 

December 2024 

Hidden Harbor Capital Partners completed a strategic investment in  Quaker Valley Foods (Philadelphia, PA). 

Quaker Valley Foods is a protein distribution company offering fresh and frozen perishable and non-perishable items including beef, pork, chicken, turkey, seafood, deli products, foodservice items, lamb, goat, mutton, veal, and ethnic items. 

September 2024 

TJC acquired  USALCO (Baltimore, MD). 

USALCO is a provider of high-quality aluminum chemicals used in water and wastewater treatment, refinery catalysts and other industrial end market applications. 

March 2024 

Truarc Partners acquired  Meyer Lab (Kansas City, MO). 

Meyer Lab is a national manufacturer and distributor of customized industrial and institutional cleaning chemicals and application systems. 

February 2024 

Borgman Capital invested in Technical Products (Cleveland, OH). 

Technical Products, Inc. is a regional chemical distributor. 

How Private Equity Info sources data

As a research database and information services company serving the middle market M&A community for 20 years, Private Equity Info ingests enormous amounts of data surrounding transactions, firms, and executives. In addition, our team engages in many conversations daily across the spectrum of investors, investment bankers, and service providers to the M&A community.

This summary report was put together by analyzing the private equity investments collected by our dedicated research team which follows 127,000 key executives, 16,000 firms and 33,000 funds in the M&A industry, or 34 million total data points. Private equity investors, investment bankers and service providers in the M&A space use Private Equity Info to search, identify and download targeted lists of M&A professionals in order to connect with key executives across thousands of companies, firms and funds.