Distribution Solutions Group, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2024

Overview

Distribution Solutions Group, Inc. (“DSG”), a Delaware corporation, is a global specialty distribution company providing value-added distribution solutions to the maintenance, repair and operations (“MRO”), original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) and industrial technology markets. DSG was formed in 2022 through the strategic mergers of Lawson Products, a leader in MRO distribution of C-parts, TestEquity, a leader in electronic test & measurement solutions and Gexpro Services, a leading global supply chain services provider to manufacturing customers. A summary of the mergers is presented in Note 1 – Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation, in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Through its collective businesses, DSG is dedicated to helping customers lower their total cost of operation by increasing productivity and efficiency with the right products, expert technical support, and fast, reliable delivery to be a one-stop solution provider. DSG serves approximately 200,000 distinct customers in several diverse end markets supported by approximately 4,400 dedicated employees and strong vendor partnerships. DSG ships from strategically located distribution and service centers to customers in North America, Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East. DSG was originally incorporated in Illinois in 1952 and was reincorporated in Delaware in 1982.

Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “DSG”, the “Company”, “we”, “our” or “us” refer to Distribution Solutions Group, Inc., and all entities consolidated in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Recent Events

2024 Business Acquisitions

On November 18, 2024, DSG acquired the assets of ConRes Test Equipment, (“ConRes TE” and the “ConRes TE Transaction”). These assets were acquired to expand TestEquity’s test equipment offerings and value-add service capabilities in all of our end markets. The total purchase consideration exchanged was approximately $17.0 million and was funded using DSG’s cash on hand and its revolving credit facility.

On October 30, 2024, DSG completed the acquisition of Tech-Component Resources Pte Ltd (“TCR” and the “TCR Transaction”). TCR is a distributor of fasteners, mechanical components, and other industrial products in Southeast Asia. TCR was acquired to provide us with a strategic foothold in this growing region. The total purchase consideration exchanged was approximately $5.9 million, net of cash acquired of $1.9 million, and was funded using DSG’s cash on hand and its revolving credit facility.

On August 14, 2024, DSG acquired all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of Source Atlantic Limited (“Source Atlantic” and the “Source Atlantic Transaction”). Source Atlantic, headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, is a wholesale distributor of industrial MRO supplies, safety products, fasteners, and related value-add services for the Canadian MRO market. Source Atlantic was acquired to expand DSG’s operating footprint in the Canadian market. The total purchase consideration exchanged was $103.1 million, net of cash acquired of $4.4 million. DSG funded the Source Atlantic Transaction with borrowings under its amended and restated credit facility (discussed below).

On May 1, 2024, DSG completed the acquisition of S&S Automotive Inc. (“S&S Automotive” and the “S&S Automotive Transaction”). S&S Automotive is a distributor of automotive, industrial, and safety supplies primarily to the automotive dealership market based near Chicago in Woodridge, Illinois. S&S Automotive was acquired to expand Lawson’s services and products to the automotive end market. The total purchase consideration exchanged was approximately $80.1 million, net of cash acquired of $0.7 million, and was funded using DSG’s cash on hand and its revolving credit facility.

On January 19, 2024, DSG acquired the assets of Safety Supply Illinois LLC, conducting business as Emergent Safety Supply (“ESS” and the “ESS Transaction”). ESS is a national distributor of safety products based near Chicago in Batavia,

Illinois. ESS was acquired to expand Lawson’s safety product category. The total purchase consideration exchanged was $9.9 million and was funded using DSG’s cash on hand.

Refer to Note 3 – Business and Asset Acquisitions in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional information about these acquisitions.

Debt Amendment

On August 14, 2024, the Company entered into the Third Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Third Amendment”). The Third Amendment provided for an additional $200 million incremental term loan and a $55 million increase in the Company’s senior secured revolving credit facility and permits the Company to increase the commitments under the agreement from time to time by up to $300 million in the aggregate, subject to, among other things, receipt of additional commitments from existing and/or new lenders and pro forma compliance with certain financial covenants. Refer to Note 9 – Debt included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional information about DSG’s credit agreement.

DSG Vision and Strategic Focus

The complementary distribution operations of Lawson, TestEquity and Gexpro Services were combined in 2022 for the purpose of creating a global specialty distribution company enabling each of Lawson, TestEquity and Gexpro Services to maintain their respective high-touch, value-added service delivery models and customer relationships in their specialty distribution businesses under the leadership of their separate business unit management teams. The DSG leadership team provides oversight to these separate leadership teams. This structure helps the combined company to leverage best practices, back-office resources and technologies across the three operating companies to help drive cost synergies and efficiencies. The combined company has the ability to utilize its combined financial resources to accelerate a strategy of expansion through both business acquisitions and organic growth.

Organic Growth Strategy

We intend to grow our businesses organically by exploring growth opportunities that provide different channels to reach customers, increase revenue and generate positive results. We plan to utilize our Company structure to grow organic revenue through collaborative selling across our customer bases and expanding the digital capabilities across our platform.

Acquisition Strategy

In addition to organic growth, we plan to actively pursue acquisition opportunities complementary to our businesses and that we believe will be financially accretive to our organization.

Human Capital Resources - General Employee Information

Our organization supports a culture of continuous improvement and emphasizes the importance of addressing the needs of our customers. We require our employees to act with integrity in every aspect of our business while encouraging them to be results driven, team oriented and progressive.

As of December 31, 2024, our combined workforce included approximately 4,400 individuals, comprised of approximately 1,610 in sales and marketing, approximately 1,880 in operation and distribution and approximately 860 in management and administration. Approximately 1,740 individuals are within Lawson, 1,160 are within TestEquity, 740 are within Gexpro Services, and 710 are within Canada Branch Division.

Segments

In connection with the Source Atlantic Transaction in the third quarter of 2024, the Company realigned its reportable segments to align with our business strategy and the manner in which our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) assesses performance and strategic execution and makes decisions regarding the allocation of resources. The Company now has four reporting segments: Lawson, TestEquity, Gexpro Services and Canada Branch Division. For additional details about our segment realignment, see Note 1 – Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

The following is a discussion of our reportable segments. For more information about our segments, refer to Note 14 – Segment Information in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Lawson

Lawson is a distributor of specialty products and services to the industrial, commercial, institutional and governmental MRO marketplace. Lawson primarily distributes MRO products to its customers through a network of sales representatives throughout the United States and Canada.

Background and Operations — Lawson delivers quality products to customers and offers them extensive product knowledge, product application expertise and Vendor Managed Inventory (“VMI”) services. Lawson competes for business primarily by offering a value-added service approach wherein highly trained sales representatives manage the product inventory for customers. The VMI model makes it less likely that customers will run out of a product while optimizing their inventory levels. Lawson ships products to its customers in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Strategic Focus — Lawson’s vision is to be its customers’ first choice for MRO solutions that improve their operating performance. Lawson plans to achieve its vision by working closely with customers to maintain and enhance their operations by providing them with quality products, superior service and innovative solutions and to grow both organically and through acquisitions.

Industry and Competition — The MRO market is comprised of companies that buy and stock products in bulk and supply these products to customers on an as needed basis. The customer benefits from our knowledge and the convenience of ordering smaller quantities maintained by us.

There is a significant amount of competitive fragmentation by geography and product within the industry. We encounter competition from several national distributors and manufacturers and a large number of regional and local distributors. Some competitors have greater financial and personnel resources, handle more extensive lines of merchandise, operate larger facilities and price some merchandise more competitively than we do.

Customers — During 2024, the Lawson segment sold products to over 53,000 distinct customers. Lawson’s largest customer accounted for approximately 4% of Lawson’s revenue. In 2024, approximately 92% of Lawson’s revenue was generated in the United States and approximately 8% in Canada. Although seasonality is not significant, due to fewer selling days and less activity during the holiday season, revenue in the fourth quarter is historically lower than the first three quarters of the year.

Lawson’s customers operate in a variety of industries. Lawson’s revenue percentages by customer end markets in 2024 were as follows:

Lawson’s customers include a wide range of purchasers of industrial supply products from small repair shops to large national and governmental accounts.

Products — Lawson’s revenue percentages by product categories in 2024 were as follows:

Lawson offers over 157,000 different products of which over 96,000 products are maintained in distribution centers. Lawson strives to carry sufficient inventory to ensure product availability and rapid processing of customer orders. Accurate forecasting of customer demand is essential to establish the proper level of inventory for each product. Inventory levels need to be sufficient to meet customer demand while avoiding the costs of stocking excess items.

During 2024, Lawson purchased products from approximately 2,400 suppliers and no single supplier accounted for more than 4% of these purchases. The loss of one core supplier could affect operations by hindering the ability to provide full service to customers.

Lawson’s quality control department tests its product offerings to help ensure they meet our customers’ specifications. Lawson recommends solutions to help customers maximize product performance and avoid costly product failures. Lawson’s engineering department provides technical support for products and offers on-site problem solutions. It also develops and presents product safety and technical training seminars tailored to meet customers’ needs.

Human Capital Resources — As of December 31, 2024, Lawson’s workforce had 1,740 individuals: approximately 1,030 in sales and marketing of whom approximately 900 are field sales representatives, 420 in operation and distribution and 290 in management and administration. Approximately 13% of the Lawson workforce is covered by three collective bargaining agreements. We believe that our relationships with our employees and their collective bargaining organizations are satisfactory.

Sales force growth is a strategic driver of the Lawson business, and increased sales coverage throughout the United States and Canada directly impacts Lawson’s success as an organization. Lawson is focused on identifying and recruiting individuals who are a good fit with its sales organization and providing them with the tools needed to succeed, such as training about Lawson’s products and on the successful and effective ways to call potential customers and maintain relationships with existing customers. Lawson’s product training educates its sales team on the optimal uses of products, enabling them to provide the proper products and customized solutions to address customers’ needs, including technical expertise and on-site problem resolution.

Lawson’s leadership team is also focused on reducing sales force turn-over and on offering growth opportunities for its sales representatives.

TestEquity

TestEquity is a leading distributor of test and measurement equipment and solutions, industrial and electronic production supplies, vendor managed inventory programs, and converting, fabrication and adhesive solutions from its leading manufacturing partners. TestEquity operates primarily through its five distribution brands, namely TestEquity, Hisco, TEquipment, Techni-Tool and Jensen Tools, and is focused primarily in North America with a network of sales representatives throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Background and Operations — Based out of North Richland Hills, Texas, TestEquity is a large, comprehensive provider of electronic test solutions in the United States supporting the aerospace and defense, wireless and communication, semiconductors, industrial electronics and automotive, and electronics manufacturing industries. TestEquity designs, rents and sells a full line of high-quality environmental test chambers. In addition to a large array of test and measurement products, TestEquity also offers calibration, refurbishment and rental solutions and a wide range of refurbished products. TestEquity continues to benefit from electronification of products across a range of industries including the internet of things (“IOT”), electric vehicles (“EV”) and the 5th generation mobile network (“5G”). TestEquity offers over 400,000 products and 800 manufacturer brands with overlap across the following brands.

Hisco is a specialty distribution company serving the electronic assembly, aerospace and defense, medical and other industrial markets. Hisco also offers specialized warehousing for cold storage and vendor managed inventory services.

TEquipment (acquired as Interworld Highway, LLC) is one of the top distributors for both test and measurement and electronic production supplies in the United States with its e-commerce focused strategy, broad product range, amplified by access to core TestEquity products, and strong technical support for their customers.

Techni-Tool is one of the industry’s largest solder, soldering equipment and electronic production distributors. Techni-Tool offers a wide range of products to support electronic production as well as compliance testing. In addition to the brand specific products offered, Techni-Tool also provides VMI solutions and dedicated technical support.

Jensen Tools is a top distributor for the electronics MRO customer base. In addition to being a distributor of handheld tools from leading brands, Jensen Tools offers private label Jensen branded hand tools that have been developed over years of customer usage and manufactured to a specified and demanding tolerance level. Jensen Tools employs a dedicated team of engineering, operational and sales professionals who focus on designing and building quality tool kits for its customers.

Strategic Focus — TestEquity intends to grow revenue both organically and through acquisitions and continuing to expand and improve its service offerings to its customers. In particular, TestEquity strives to improve its digital experience, with a consistent approach for all of its brands. TestEquity intends to increase its market share through continued expansion of product lines and greater penetration of the e-commerce market, enabled through investment in key digital talent and leverage of the existing TestEquity and TEquipment platforms.

Industry and Competition — Across both the test and measurement and electronic production supplies businesses, the North American market is fragmented with competitors ranging from large global distributors to national and regional distributors. Some competitors have greater financial and personnel resources, handle more extensive lines of merchandise, operate larger facilities and price some merchandise more competitively than TestEquity.

Customers — TestEquity serves over 107,000 customers at 128,000 locations across the United States and abroad, primarily in Canada, Europe and Mexico with approximately 81% of TestEquity’s revenue in 2024 derived from customers in the United States. There is no significant seasonality in TestEquity’s business across its fiscal quarters. However, the number of business days in a quarter has an impact on TestEquity’s revenue and profitability.

TestEquity’s revenue percentages by customer end markets in 2024 were as follows:

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Products — Approximately 19,000 fast-moving products are typically held in inventory across 40 distribution centers available for next day delivery. TestEquity’s revenue percentages by product categories in 2024 were as follows:

TestEquity has 28 key suppliers that made up approximately 35% of TestEquity’s purchases in 2024. In total, TestEquity purchases from approximately 3,000 suppliers across the marketplace.

Human Capital Resources — TestEquity supports a culture of continuous improvement, integrity and diversity. TestEquity prides itself on its ability to meet its customers’ needs in a driven and progressive manner. As of December 31, 2024, TestEquity’s workforce had 1,160 individuals, comprised of approximately 250 in sales and marketing, 550 in operation and distribution and 360 in administration and support.

Gexpro Services

Gexpro Services is a world-class global supply chain solutions provider, specializing in the development of mission critical production line management, aftermarket and field installation programs. Gexpro Services provides comprehensive supply chain management solutions, including a full technology suite offering of VMI, kitting, global logistics management, manufacturing localization and import expertise, value engineering and quality assurance. Gexpro Services’ end-to-end project management is designed to support OEMs with their engineered material specifications, fulfillment, and quality requirements to improve their total cost of ownership. Gexpro Services has manufacturing and supply chain operations in over 34 service center sites across twelve countries including key geographies in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Gexpro Services serves customers in six vertical markets, including renewables, industrial power, consumer and industrial, technology, transportation, and aerospace and defense.

Background and Operations — Gexpro Services was formed in November 2019 and, in February 2020, LKCM Headwater acquired the “Gexpro Services” business from French distributor Rexel S.A. via a carve-out acquisition.

As a top distributor and service provider to the OEM market, Gexpro Services has approximately 2,800 suppliers offering approximately 49,000 products. These products are inventoried and sourced through 30 locations in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Strategic Focus — Gexpro Services intends to grow organically through market share expansion primarily through new product introduction, increased sales of products and services to existing customers and expansion of its customer base. Gexpro Services believes that its services benefit its customers by helping them reduce their direct and indirect procurement costs and total cost of ownership for high volume, low value Class C parts, and that its services can help drive substantial cost savings for its customers. Additionally, Gexpro Services intends to grow its business through strategic, accretive acquisitions, and through continued improvement in service and product offerings to its customers.

Industry and Competition — Gexpro Services operates in a large, fragmented market with many competitors servicing OEMs as well as the MRO segment of the Class C product line. Competitors of Gexpro Services include large global distributors as well as national, regional and local distributors.

Customers — Gexpro Services serves over 2,000 customers in over 49 countries through its 30 facilities. In 2024, approximately 76% of Gexpro Services’ revenues were generated in the United States. Through its customer base, Gexpro Services provides VMI services with over 155,000 installed bins which allow its customers to maintain the necessary on-hand inventory levels to support their production cycles. Gexpro Services’ value-added processes for its customers include VMI, packaging and kitting, engineering, product standardization when appropriate, sales and technical support, global sourcing and quality assurance.

Approximately 64% of Gexpro Services’ revenue in 2024 was from customers under long-term agreements. Gexpro Services’ largest customer represented approximately 23% of Gexpro Services’ 2024 total revenue while the top 20 customers represented approximately 82% of Gexpro Services’ 2024 total revenue.

Gexpro Services has existing customers in many different industry end markets. Gexpro Services’ revenue percentages by customer end markets in 2024 were as follows:

Products — Gexpro Services’ revenue percentages by product categories in 2024 were as follows:

Approximately 63% of Gexpro Services’ suppliers are based in the United States, which helps limit the risk of increased freight and logistics costs; however, many of these suppliers source their products from overseas. Gexpro Services maintains favorable and long-tenured relationships with approximately 2,800 suppliers, with the largest supplier representing approximately 2% of Gexpro Services’ total product purchases in 2024 while the top 10 suppliers represented approximately 17% of total product purchases in 2024.

Human Capital Resources — Gexpro Services supports a culture of continuous improvement, integrity and diversity. Gexpro Services prides itself on being a full value provider to its customers supported with a team committed to providing world-class customer service. As of December 31, 2024, Gexpro Services’ workforce had approximately 740 individuals, comprised of approximately 240 in sales and marketing, 430 in operation and distribution and 70 in management and administration.

Canada Branch Division

Canada Branch Division is a wholesale distributor providing product and service solutions for the industrial, government, commercial and residential contractor markets for the Canadian MRO market.

Background and Operations — Canada Branch Division combines the operations of our Bolt Supply House (“Bolt”) and Source Atlantic subsidiaries, which distribute industrial MRO supplies, safety products, fasteners, and related value-add services to the Canadian MRO market primarily through the sale of products to its walk-up customers through 38 branch locations.

Strategic Focus — Canada Branch Division combines the operations of our Bolt and Source Atlantic subsidiaries, which distribute industrial MRO supplies, safety products, fasteners, power tools and related value-add services to the Canadian MRO market through the sale of products and services via warehouse shipments and to its walk-up customers through 38 branch locations.

Industry and Competition — The MRO market is comprised of companies that buy and stock products in bulk and supply these products to customers on an as needed basis. The customer benefits from our knowledge and the convenience of purchasing smaller quantities from stock maintained by us.

There is a significant amount of competition within the Canadian MRO industry. We encounter competition from regional and local distributors in Canada as well as international distributors and manufacturers. Some competitors have greater financial and personnel resources, handle more extensive lines of merchandise, operate larger facilities and price some merchandise more competitively than we do.

Customers — During 2024, the Canada Branch Division segment sold products to over 40,400 distinct customers. Canada Branch Division’s largest customer accounted for approximately 3% of consolidated revenue. Approximately 100% of Canada Branch Division’s revenue was generated in Canada. Although seasonality is not significant, due to fewer selling days and less activity during the holiday season, revenue in the fourth quarter is historically lower than the first three quarters of the year.

Canada Branch Division’s customers operate in a variety of industries. Revenue percentages by customer end markets in 2024 were as follows:

Canada Branch Division’s customers include a wide range of purchasers of industrial supply products from small independent contractors to large manufacturers, and governmental and military accounts.

Products — Canada Branch Division’s revenue percentages by product categories in 2024 were as follows:

Canada Branch Division offers over 135,000 different products of which over 92,500 products are maintained in distribution centers and physical store branch locations. Canada Branch Division strives to carry sufficient inventory to ensure product availability. Accurate forecasting of customer demand is essential to establish the proper level of inventory for each product. Inventory levels need to be sufficient to meet customer demand while avoiding the costs of stocking excess items.

During 2024, Canada Branch Division purchased products from approximately 2,400 suppliers with the largest supplier representing approximately 18% of total product purchases in 2024. Canada Branch Division maintains favorable and long-tenured relationships with approximately 2,400 suppliers. The loss of one core supplier could affect operations by hindering the ability to provide full service to customers.

Human Capital Resources — Canada Branch Division supports a culture of continuous improvement, integrity and diversity and prides itself on its committed team that is driven to meet customers’ needs through quality service. As of December 31, 2024, Canada Branch Division’s workforce had approximately 710 individuals: approximately 480 in operation and distribution, 90 in sales and marketing and 140 in management and administration.

Available Information

We file with, or furnish to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and, as applicable, amendments to those reports pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. The public can obtain copies of these materials by accessing the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such materials with, or furnish such materials to, the SEC, we make copies of such materials available to the public free of charge through our website at www.distributionsolutionsgroup.com (http://www.distributionsolutionsgroup.com). Information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this report. We also make available on our website our Code of Business Conduct, Corporate Governance Principles and the charters of the committees of our Board of Directors.

Information About Our Executive Officers

The executive officers of DSG as of February 3, 2025 were as follows:

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Biographical information for the past five years relating to each of our executive officers is set forth below.

Mr. King was elected President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2022. Mr. King has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Company since 2017 and has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company since March 2019. Mr. King has a career in investment management spanning over three decades and has served as Chairman or managing partner of several industrial distribution companies. Mr. King is a Principal of Luther King Capital Management Corporation (“LKCM”), an SEC-registered investment adviser, and Founder and Managing Partner of LKCM Capital Group and LKCM Headwater Investments, the private capital investment group of LKCM.

Mr. Knutson has served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since April 2014 and has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company since July 2012.

Mr. Lambert has served as Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of the Company since June 2021. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Lambert served as the Corporate Controller, and previously the Assistant Controller, of Univar Solutions, a chemical distribution company, publicly traded on the NYSE from June 2017 through June 2021. Prior to these roles, Mr. Lambert held progressive roles within finance and accounting at several other publicly traded companies.

Our operating results depend on many factors and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those discussed below. The material risks and uncertainties known to us and described below may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and may give rise to or amplify many of the risks discussed below.

Business Risks

A significant portion of our inventory may become obsolete.

Our business strategy requires us to carry a significant amount of inventory to meet rapid processing of customer orders. If our inventory forecasting and production planning processes result in inventory levels exceeding the levels demanded by customers or should our customers decrease their orders with us, our operating results could be adversely affected due to costs of carrying the inventory and additional inventory write-offs for excess and obsolete inventory, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Work stoppages and other disruptions at transportation centers or shipping ports, along with other supply chain disruptions, may adversely affect our ability to obtain inventory and make deliveries to our customers.

Our ability to rapidly process customer orders is an integral component of our overall business strategy. Interruptions at our company-operated facilities or disruptions at a major transportation center or shipping port, due to events such as severe weather, labor interruptions, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, trade restrictions, government-imposed quotas or other events, could adversely affect our ability to maintain core products in inventory or deliver products to our customers on a timely basis or adversely affect demand for our products, which may in turn adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, other supply chain disruptions have impacted our ability to maintain certain core products in inventory and deliver products to customers on a timely basis, and may continue to impact our ability to do so. Such supply chain disruptions may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in our customers, product mix and pricing strategy could cause our gross profit margin percentage to decline in the future.

From time to time, our businesses have experienced overall changes in the product mix demand of customers. When customers or product mix changes, there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our gross profit margins. Changes in our customers, product mix, volume of orders or prices charged, along with additional freight costs or lower productivity levels, could cause our gross profit margin percentage to decline. Our gross profit margin percentage may also come under pressure in the future if we increase the percentage of national accounts in our customer base, as sales to these customers are generally at lower margins.

Disruptions of our information and communication systems could adversely affect the Company.

We depend on our information and communication systems to process orders, purchase and manage inventory, maintain cost-effective operations, sell and ship products, manage accounts receivable collections and serve our customers. Disruptions in the operation of information and communication systems can occur due to a variety of factors including power outages, hardware failure, programming faults and human error. Disruptions in the operation of our information and communication systems, whether over a short or an extended period of time or affecting one or multiple distribution centers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Cyber-attacks or other information security incidents could have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition and subject us to additional legal costs.

We are increasingly dependent on digital technology to process and record financial and operating data and communicate with our employees and business partners. During the normal course of business we receive, retain and transmit certain confidential information that our customers provide to purchase products or services or to otherwise communicate with us, as well as certain potentially sensitive information about our employees and other persons and entities.

Our technologies, systems, networks and data and information processes (and those of our business partners) have been, and may in the future be, the target of cyber-attacks and/or information security incidents that may have resulted in, or may in the future result in, the unauthorized release, misuse, loss or destruction of proprietary, personal and other information, or other disruption of our business operations, including compromise of our email systems. For example, in February 2022, Lawson became aware that its computer network was the subject of a cyber incident potentially involving unlawful access (the “Cyber Incident”). Because of the nature of the information that may have been potentially compromised, which may have included personal identifiable information and protected health information, we were required to notify the parties whose information was potentially compromised of the incident as well as various governmental agencies and have taken other actions, such as offering credit monitoring services. After this incident, we also reviewed our overall systems and processes, and implemented certain changes, including employee training, designed to improve our overall cybersecurity program, but we cannot assure you that these changes will be effective to prevent future incidents. In addition, from time to time our email systems (and those of our business partners communicating with us) have been subjected to malicious attacks, including phishing attacks.

Such attacks or incidents could have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition and subject us to additional legal costs. For example, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against DSG in April 2023 asserting a variety of claims seeking monetary damages, injunctive relief and other related relief in connection with the Cyber Incident, which could result in additional legal and other costs.

The techniques used by criminals to obtain unauthorized access to sensitive data change frequently and often are not recognizable until launched against a target or until a breach has already occurred. Accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. In addition, we are exposed to growing and evolving risks arising from the use of Artificial Intelligence technologies by bad actors to commit fraud, misappropriate funds and facilitate cyberattacks. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and fix any information security vulnerabilities.

We maintain and have access to data and information that is subject to privacy and security laws, data protection laws and applicable regulations. The interpretation and application of such laws, including federal, state and international laws, relating to the collection, use, retention, disclosure, security and transfer of personally identifiable data in the United States (including but not limited to the California Consumer Privacy Act and the California Privacy Rights Act), Europe (including but not limited to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation) and elsewhere, are uncertain and evolving. Despite our efforts to protect such information, cyber, privacy or security incidents, or misplaced or lost data could have a materially adverse impact on our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition and may divert management and employee attention from other business and growth initiatives.

The inability to successfully recruit, integrate and retain productive sales representatives could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We have committed to a plan to increase the size of our sales force. A successful expansion in our sales force requires us to identify under-served territories that offer the greatest potential growth opportunity, locate and recruit talented sales representatives, provide them with the proper training, and successfully integrate them into our organization. This expansion will require significant investment in capital and resources. The failure to identify the optimal sales territories, recruit and retain quality sales representatives and provide them with sufficient support could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

It is also critical to retain the experienced and productive sales representatives that have historically contributed to the successes of our businesses. Failure to retain a sufficient number of talented, experienced and productive sales representatives could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to retain talented employees, managers and executives could negatively impact our business and operating results.

Our success depends on, among other things, our ability to attract, develop and retain talented employees, including executives and other key managers. The loss of certain key executives and managers or the failure to attract and develop talented employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

There may be difficulties in integrating certain operations of TestEquity’s and Gexpro Services’ respective businesses with our other operations, and the failure to successfully combine those operations within our expected timetable could adversely affect our future results and the market price of our common stock.

The Mergers involve the combination of businesses that previously operated as independent businesses. Management has devoted and will continue to devote significant attention and resources to combine certain business operations of TestEquity and Gexpro Services with our other business operations. This may divert the time and attention of our management team and diminish their time to manage our businesses, service existing customers, attract new customers, develop new products, services and strategies and identify other beneficial opportunities.

If our management is not able to effectively manage the process following the closing of the Mergers, or if any significant business activities are interrupted as a result of this process, our businesses could suffer.

Furthermore, it is possible that the Mergers could result in the loss of key employees. If we are not able to fully realize the anticipated savings and synergies from the Mergers in a timely manner, or the cost to achieve these synergies is greater than expected, we may not fully realize the anticipated benefits (or any benefits) of the Mergers, or it may take longer than expected to realize any benefits. The failure to fully or timely realize the anticipated benefits could have a negative effect on the market price of DSG common stock.

The inability of management to successfully implement changes in operating processes could lead to disruptions in our operations.

We strive to improve operational efficiencies throughout our organization and to identify and initiate changes intended to improve our internal operations. The implementation of changes to our current operations involves a risk that the changes may not work as intended, may disrupt related processes, may not be properly applied or may not result in accomplishing the intended efficiencies. Failure to successfully manage the implementation of these changes could lead to disruptions in our operations.

Any pursuit or completion by DSG of additional acquisition opportunities would involve risks that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

One of our growth strategies is to actively pursue additional acquisition opportunities which complement our business model. However, there are risks associated with pursuing acquisitions, which include the incurrence of significant transaction costs without the guarantee that such transactions will be completed and the risk that we may not realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition once it is completed. We may fail to successfully identify the right opportunities and/or to successfully integrate the acquired businesses, operations, technologies, systems and/or personnel with those of DSG, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We operate in highly competitive markets.

The marketplaces in which we operate are highly competitive. Our competitors include large and small companies with similar or greater market presence, name recognition, and financial, marketing, and other resources. We believe the competition will continue to challenge our business with their product selection, financial resources and services.

We may be required to recognize impairment charges for goodwill and other intangible assets.

As a result of the closing of the Mergers on April 1, 2022, and other acquisitions completed during 2024, 2023 and 2022, we have a significant amount of goodwill and other intangible assets on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2024. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”), our management periodically assesses our goodwill and other intangible assets to determine if they are impaired. Significant negative industry or economic trends, disruptions to our business, an inability to effectively integrate acquired businesses, unexpected significant changes, planned changes in use of the assets, divestitures and market capitalization declines may impair goodwill and other intangible assets. Any charges relating to such impairments could materially and adversely affect our results of operations in the periods recognized, which could result in an adverse effect on the market price of DSG common stock.

Changes that affect governmental and other tax-supported entities, including but not limited to changes arising from geopolitical instability and military hostilities, could negatively impact our revenue and earnings.

A portion of our revenue is derived from the United States military and other governmental and tax-supported entities. These entities are largely dependent upon government budgets and require adherence to certain laws and regulations, including sanctions. Such sanctions could include restrictions on selling or importing goods, services, or technology in or from affected regions and travel bans and asset freezes impacting connected individuals and political, military, business, and financial organizations. In addition, geopolitical instability and military hostilities, such as the Hamas-Israel military conflict and the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, could negatively impact our business Although we have not, do not currently and do not plan to conduct business operations in Gaza, Israel, Russia, Belarus, or Ukraine, it is not possible to predict the broader consequences of these conflicts, which could include sanctions, embargoes or other geopolitical instability. Any decrease in the levels of defense and other governmental spending or the introduction of more stringent governmental regulations and oversight could lead to reduced revenue or an increase in compliance costs which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are required to evaluate our internal controls over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and any adverse results from such evaluation, and any failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, could result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports and could have an adverse effect on our stock price.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and applicable SEC rules, we are required to include in each Annual Report on Form 10-K a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting. This assessment must include disclosure of any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting identified by management. Each year, we must prepare or update the process documentation and perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and applicable SEC rules in providing this report. During this process, if our management identifies one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert such internal control is effective. For example, management’s report on our internal controls over financial reporting contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, identified a material weakness and concluded that we did not maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022. Ensuring that we have adequate internal financial and accounting controls and procedures in place is a costly and time-consuming exercise that needs to be re-evaluated frequently. We and our independent auditors may in the future discover areas of our internal controls that need further attention and improvement, particularly with respect to any other businesses that we decide to acquire in the future.

One of our growth strategies is to actively pursue additional acquisition opportunities which complement our business model. These acquired businesses are typically private companies and may not have in place the financial organization, reporting and controls which are required for a U.S. public company. The cost of implementing this type of financial organization, reporting and controls in respect of the acquired business and integrating their financial reporting processes with our financial reporting processes may be significant. If there are limitations in the acquired businesses’ financial organization, reporting and controls, or if we are unable to effectively integrate their financial reporting processes with our financial reporting processes, we could, among other things, have material weaknesses in our internal controls, violate our indebtedness covenants, miss an SEC reporting deadline or otherwise fail to comply with an applicable law or regulation.

Implementing any appropriate changes to our internal controls may require specific compliance training, entail substantial costs in order to modify our existing accounting systems or those of the companies that we acquire, and take a material period of time to complete. However, such changes may not be effective in maintaining the adequacy of our internal controls, and any failure to maintain that adequacy, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase our operating costs and could harm our ability to operate our business. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Any failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, or any investor perception that our internal controls are inadequate or that we are unable to produce accurate financial statements on a timely, consistent basis, may result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports and may adversely affect our stock price. Any failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting or to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and applicable SEC rules could also potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, Nasdaq or other regulatory authorities.

The changes made in the third quarter of 2024 to our segment reporting structure could be confusing to investors and may not have the desired effects.

In the third quarter of 2024 we introduced a fourth reporting segment, Canada Branch Division, which includes the results of Bolt Supply House (“Bolt”) and Source Atlantic. Prior to this change, we had three reportable segments: Lawson, TestEquity and Gexpro Services. We also had an “All Other” category which included unallocated DSG holding company costs and the results of Bolt, which was previously a non-reportable segment. Managing this change has required, and may continue to require, significant expenditures and allocation of valuable management resources. We have provided disclosures about our new segment reporting structure, but there is no guarantee that investors or the market will understand this change to our financial reporting. There is also no guarantee that this change will have the desired effect. Failure of investors or analysts to understand our revised segment reporting structure may negatively affect their ability to understand our business and operating results which could adversely affect our stock price.

Debt Financing Risks

We have a significant amount of indebtedness, and our significant indebtedness could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have $739.9 million of indebtedness as of December 31, 2024, which includes a significant amount of indebtedness under our Amended Credit Agreement (as defined in Note 9 – Debt in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data). In addition, we may be able to incur a significant amount of additional indebtedness, subject to the terms and restrictions of our Amended Credit Agreement. Our indebtedness could have significant consequences on our future operations, including:

• events of default if we fail to comply with the financial and other covenants contained in the Amended Credit Agreement and/or other agreements governing our debt instruments, which could result in all of the debt becoming immediately due and payable or require us to negotiate an amendment to financial or other covenants that could cause us to incur additional fees and expenses;
• reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, investments, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes, and limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for these purposes;
• limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, and increasing our vulnerability to, changes in our business, the industries in which we operate, and the overall economy;
• limiting our ability to buy back common stock or pay dividends;
• placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to any of our competitors that have less debt or are less leveraged; and
• increasing our vulnerability to the impact of adverse economic and industry conditions.

Our ability to meet our payment and other obligations under our debt instruments will depend on our ability to generate significant cash flow in the future. This, to some extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative and regulatory factors as well as other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure that we will generate cash flow from operations, or that future borrowings will be available to us, in an amount sufficient to enable us to meet our indebtedness obligations and to fund other liquidity needs.

Failure to adequately fund our operating and working capital needs through cash generated from operations and borrowings available under our Amended Credit Agreement could negatively impact our ability to invest in our business and maintain our capital structure.

Our business requires investment in working capital and fixed assets. We expect to fund these investments from cash generated from operations and borrowings available under our Amended Credit Agreement. Failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or from our Amended Credit Agreement could cause us to have insufficient funds to operate our business. Adequate funds may not be available when needed or may not be available on favorable terms.

Our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected if we failed to meet the covenant requirements of our Amended Credit Agreement.

Our Amended Credit Agreement contains financial and other restrictive covenants. These covenants could adversely affect us by limiting our financial and operating flexibility as well as our ability to plan for and react to market conditions and to meet our capital needs. Failure to meet these covenant requirements could lead to higher financing costs and increased restrictions, reduce or eliminate our ability to borrow funds, result in events of default and accelerate the date on which our indebtedness must be repaid.

If we require more liquidity than is available to us under our Amended Credit Agreement, we may need to raise additional funds through debt or equity offerings which may not be available when needed or may not be available on terms favorable to us. Should funding be insufficient at any time in the future, we may be unable to develop or enhance our products or services, take advantage of business opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Government efforts to combat inflation, along with other interest rate pressures, could lead to higher financing costs.

Inflation has risen on a global basis, the United States has been experiencing relatively high levels of inflation, and government entities have taken various actions to combat inflation, such as raising interest rate benchmarks. Government entities may continue their efforts, or implement additional efforts, to combat inflation, which could include among other things raising interest rate benchmarks, maintaining interest rate benchmarks at elevated levels and/or failing to lower interest rate benchmarks. Such government efforts, along with other interest rate pressures, could lead to higher financing costs and have material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Common Stock Risks

The market price of our common stock may decline.

The price of our common stock could decrease if our financial performance is inadequate or does not meet investors’ expectations, if there is deterioration in the overall market for equities, if large amounts of shares are sold in the market, if there is index trading, or if investors have concerns that our business, financial condition, results of operations and capital requirements are negatively impacted by an economic downturn or any other adverse development.

Entities affiliated with LKCM and J. Bryan King beneficially own a significant majority of the outstanding DSG common stock and, therefore, have significant influence over our Company, which could delay or deter a change in control or other business combination or otherwise cause us to take actions with which you may disagree.

Based on a Schedule 13D filed with the SEC by LKCM and various other persons and entities (as amended through December 27, 2023), entities affiliated with LKCM beneficially owned in the aggregate approximately 36.4 million shares of DSG common stock as of December 26, 2023, representing approximately 77.6% of the outstanding shares of DSG common stock as of December 31, 2024. J. Bryan King, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, is a Principal of LKCM. In addition, M. Bradley Wallace, who became a director of the Company upon his election at the Company’s 2023 annual stockholders meeting on May 19, 2023, is a Founding Partner of LKCM Headwater Investments, the private capital investment group of LKCM As a result, LKCM has significant influence over the outcome of matters requiring a stockholder vote, including the election of directors and the approval of other significant matters, and LKCM’s interests may not align with the interests of other stockholders. This concentration of ownership could also have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or other business combination that might be beneficial to our stockholders.

In addition, as a result of this concentrated ownership interest of DSG common stock, DSG believes that it qualifies as a “controlled company.” Under Nasdaq Listing Rules, a listed company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and, accordingly, DSG believes that, if it so desired, it would be generally exempt from the requirements of Rule 5605(b), (d) and (e) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules that among other things would otherwise require DSG to have:

• a majority of the DSG Board of Directors comprised of independent directors;
• a compensation committee comprised solely of independent directors; and
• director nominees be selected or recommended to the DSG Board of Directors for selection, either by (1) DSG’s independent directors constituting a majority of the DSG Board of Directors’ independent directors in a vote in

which only independent directors participate or (2) a nominating committee comprised solely of independent directors.

Entities affiliated with LKCM beneficially own a significant number of shares of DSG common stock, and any sales of any such shares or the possibility of any such sales could have a negative effect on the price of DSG common stock.

Entities affiliated with LKCM beneficially own a significant number of shares of DSG common stock. In connection with the Mergers, DSG granted to certain entities affiliated with LKCM certain registration rights with respect to the shares of DSG common stock that DSG issued to those entities in connection with the Mergers. Any sales of any of the shares of DSG common stock held by any entities affiliated with LKCM (whether those shares were acquired by those entities in connection with the Mergers or in other transactions), or the anticipation of the possibility of any such sales, could create downward pressure on the market price of DSG common stock.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

A violation of federal, state or local environmental protection regulations could lead to significant penalties and fines or other remediation costs.

Our product offerings include a wide variety of industrial chemicals and other products which are subject to a multitude of federal, state and local regulations. These environmental protection laws change frequently and affect the composition, handling, transportation, storage and disposal of these products. Failure to comply with these regulations could lead to severe penalties and fines for each violation.

Additionally, a facility we own in Decatur, Alabama, was found to contain hazardous substances in the soil and groundwater as a result of historical operations prior to our ownership. We retained an environmental consulting firm to further investigate the contamination, including measurement and monitoring of the site. The Company concluded that further remediation was required, and accordingly, has made an accrual for the estimated cost of this environmental matter. A remediation plan was approved by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the remediation of the affected area is ongoing. Additional procedures may be required that could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our results of operations could be affected by changes in taxation.

We are subject to income taxation at federal and state levels in the United States and to income taxation in numerous non-U.S. jurisdictions. Our results of operations could be adversely affected by changes in the Company’s effective tax rate as a result of changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets, audits by taxing authorities or changes in tax laws, regulations and their interpretation. From time-to-time changes in tax laws or regulations may be proposed or enacted that could adversely affect our overall tax liability. In addition, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”), which represents a coalition of member countries, has recommended fundamental tax reform affecting the taxation of multinational corporations, including the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) project, which in part aims to address international corporate tax avoidance. On December 20, 2021, the OECD released Pillar Two Model Rules defining the global minimum tax rules, which contemplate a 15% minimum tax rate. The OECD continues to release additional guidance on these rules and the framework calls for law enactment by OECD and G20 members to take effect in 2024 or 2025. However, the detail of the proposals is subject to change and the impact on the Company will need to be determined by reference to the final rules. The Company is continuing to monitor the potential impact of the Pillar Two proposals and developments on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures, including eligibility for any transitional safe harbor rules. Among the jurisdictions where the Company operates, the U.K. has enacted legislation during 2024 that becomes effective in 2025.Canada has also enacted legislation during 2024 in accordance with the Pillar Two framework. Other countries have also enacted or are expected to enact Pillar Two legislation. The Company continues to monitor the development and implementation of these rules both in local countries and on a multi-lateral basis, making it uncertain to predict the ultimate impact in the future. For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company has not identified nor recorded any incremental tax as a result of Pillar Two. Changes in applicable tax laws and regulations could affect our ability to realize our deferred tax assets, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

From time to time we may become subject to income tax audits, sales tax audits or similar proceedings, and as a result we may incur additional costs and expenses or owe additional taxes, interest and penalties that may negatively impact our operating results.

The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to U.S. federal income tax as well as income tax of multiple state and foreign jurisdictions. The Company’s determination of its tax liability is subject to review by applicable domestic and foreign tax authorities. As of December 31, 2024, we were subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations for the years 2021 through 2023 and income tax examinations from various other jurisdictions for the years 2017 through 2023.

The timing and resolution of any future tax examinations are subject to significant uncertainty and could result in us having to pay amounts to the applicable tax authority in order to resolve examination of its tax positions. An increase or decrease of tax related to tax examination resolutions could result in a change in our income tax expense and could negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Our international operations subject us to additional legal and regulatory regimes.

TestEquity has business operations and/or sales in a number of foreign countries, including Canada, Mexico, Germany and the United Kingdom. Gexpro Services has business operations and/or sales in a number of foreign countries, including Hungary, China and Singapore. Lawson and Canada Branch Division have business operations and/or sales in Canada. Compliance with diverse legal and regulatory requirements, including in connection with the movement or repatriation of cash, may be costly and time-consuming and require significant resources. Violations could result in significant fines or monetary damages, sanctions, prohibitions or restrictions on doing business and damage to our reputation. In addition, operating in foreign countries requires us to manage the potential conflicts between locally accepted business practices in any given jurisdiction and our obligations to comply with laws and regulations with respect to such jurisdictions, including anti-corruption laws or regulations applicable to DSG, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) and the UK Bribery Act 2010 (the “UKBA”). The U.S., U.K. and other foreign agencies and authorities have a broad range of civil and criminal penalties they may seek to impose against companies for violations of export controls, the FCPA, the UKBA, and other laws, rules, sanctions, embargoes and regulations, including those established by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Any violation of these legal requirements, even if prohibited by our policies, procedures and controls, could subject us to criminal or civil enforcement actions or penalties for non-compliance or otherwise have an adverse effect on our business and reputation.

As a result of the Mergers, DSG’s ability to use its net operating losses and certain other tax attributes generated prior to the Mergers may be subject to limitations.

At December 31, 2024, the Company had $21.4 million of U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards which were generated after 2017 and are not subject to expiration and $50.6 million of various state net operating loss carryforwards which expire at varying dates between 2025 and 2036. As a result of the Mergers, DSG’s ability to use its net operating losses and certain other tax attributes generated prior to the Mergers may be subject to limitations, which may adversely impact on our future tax liability and cash flows.

Public Health Emergencies Risks

Public health emergencies, whether domestic or international, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may materially adversely affect our business strategy, financial condition or results of operations.

Pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks in the U.S. or globally, including new variants of COVID-19, may have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, financial condition or results of operations, as well as on our employees, suppliers, customers, and the general economy. The full effect and estimated length of these disruptions could be difficult to predict by the Company given such an event is affected by a number of factors, many of which could be outside of our control. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lost revenue to our Company and adversely affected our financial condition and results of operations by, among other things, limiting our ability to source high demand product, limiting our sales force to perform certain functions due to state or federal stay-at-home orders, causing a slow-down of customer demand for our products and limiting the ability of some customers to pay us on a timely basis.

General Risks

Our results of operations may be adversely impacted by a downturn in the economy or in certain sectors of the economy.

Any decline or uncertainty in the strength of the economy may lead to a decrease in customer spending and may cause certain customers to cancel or delay placing orders. Some of our customers may file for bankruptcy protection, preventing us from collecting on accounts receivable and may result in our stocking excess inventory. Contractions in the credit markets may also cause some of our customers to experience difficulties in obtaining financing, leading to lower sales, delays in the collection of receivables and result in an increase in bad debt expense.

Adverse economic conditions could also affect our key suppliers and contractors. This could lead us to incur additional expenses or result in delays in shipping products to our customers. Economic uncertainty can make it difficult to accurately predict future order activity and affect our ability to effectively manage inventory levels. There are no assurances that we would be able to establish alternative financing or obtain financing with terms similar to our existing financing arrangements, including our credit agreement.

Changes in energy costs, tariffs, transportation costs and the cost of raw materials used in our products, and other inflationary pressures, could impact our cost of goods and distribution and occupancy expenses, which may result in lower operating margins.

Increases in the cost of raw materials used in our products (e.g., steel, brass, copper), quotas imposed on any cross border supplies within our businesses, increases in or continuation of any tariffs or imposition of any new tariffs, increases in natural gas, electricity and other energy costs and increases in freight and other costs necessary to produce and transport our products, as well as other inflationary pressures, could raise the production costs of our vendors. Those vendors have typically looked to pass their higher costs along to us through price increases. If we are unable to fully pass any such increased prices and costs through to our customers or to modify our activities, the impact could have an adverse effect on our operating profit margins and financial condition. On the other hand, a decrease in oil prices may result in weaker demand from oil and gas customers in the future, resulting in lower net sales. Changes in trade policies, increases in or continuation of any tariffs or imposition of any new tariffs, and other inflationary pressures could also affect our sourcing of product and ability to secure sufficient product and/or impact the cost or price of our products, with potentially negative impacts on our reported gross profits and results of operations.

Supply chain constraints, inflationary pressure and labor shortages could impact our cost of goods and other costs and expenses, which may result in lower gross profit margins and/or otherwise materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our businesses have been and may continue to be impacted by supply chain constraints, resulting in inflationary pressure on material costs, longer lead times, port congestion, and increased freight costs. This could result in challenges in acquiring and receiving inventory in a timely fashion and fulfilling customer orders. In addition, we have been and may continue to be impacted by labor shortages. This could result in challenges in fulfilling customer orders and can have a negative impact on our operating results as we may be required to utilize higher-cost temporary labor. We have also experienced and continue to experience inflationary pressure in other areas that adversely impact our cost of goods sold and other costs and expenses. While we instituted various price increases during 2022, 2023 and 2024 in response to rising supplier costs, as well as increased transportation and labor costs, there can be no assurance that future cost increases can be partially or fully passed on to customers, or that the timing of such sales price increases will match our supplier cost increases. As a result, we are unable to predict the impact of these constraints on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Company is exposed to the risk of foreign currency changes.

A number of our subsidiaries are located and operate outside the United States, and each uses the currency in such foreign country as its functional currency. Operating results denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars when consolidated into our financial statements. Therefore, we are exposed to market risk relating to the fluctuation of value of such foreign currencies (including the Canadian dollar, Mexican peso, British pound sterling, the Euro, Danish krone, Brazilian real, Chinese renminbi, Turkish lira, and Singapore dollar) relative to the U.S. dollar that could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

In addition, the revolving credit facility under our Amended Credit Agreement is available to be drawn in U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars and any other additional currencies that may be agreed between us and our lenders. Any borrowings in Canadian dollars or any other foreign currency would expose us to market risk relating to the change in the value of such foreign currency in relation to the U.S. dollar.

Risk Management & Strategy

We are focused on addressing the growing threat of cybersecurity risks that we face in today’s global business environment and have identified cybersecurity as an important enterprise risk. Our cybersecurity risk management program is part of our overall enterprise risk management program, and is focused on identifying, assessing, managing, and remediating material risks from cybersecurity incidents. We rely on risk-based security controls, including access limitations and contractual requirements on third-party service providers, as part of our overall approach of protecting the integrity, availability and confidentiality of our important systems and information. We have an established cyber incident response plan to respond to cyber incidents.

We continue to improve our cybersecurity program and processes by investing in preventative measures. We engage consultants and third-party service providers in connection with our cybersecurity risk testing and assessment. These third-party service providers assist us in evaluating our cybersecurity program, provide support for threat monitoring and detection, and scan for vulnerabilities and other cybersecurity events which may pose a significant risk to the Company. We also engage in cybersecurity training, with the employees of certain of our operating companies undergoing compulsory training that enables them to detect and report malware, ransomware and other malicious software or social engineering attempts that may compromise the Company’s information technology systems, and those employees are routinely assessed on this training. Employees are also generally required to complete compulsory training covering the handling of sensitive data. As the cyber landscape evolves, both in our technology systems and in the broader context of the internet and expanding connectivity, management continually updates its cybersecurity approach as part of its effort to safeguard the Company’s sensitive information and assets.

We have not experienced any cybersecurity incidents in the last three years, including as a result of the Cyber Incident, that have materially affected the business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition of the Company. For more information regarding how cybersecurity threats could materially affect our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition, see “Cyber-attacks or other information security incidents could have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition and subject us to additional legal costs.” in Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Corporate Governance

Our Board of Directors has overall responsibility for risk oversight and has delegated the oversight of risks associated with cybersecurity to the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee reports to the Board on our cybersecurity risk management practices and performance, generally on a quarterly basis. The Audit Committee receives reports from senior members of management, including from each of our Chief Information Officers (“CIOs”) (which include the CIO of each of our principal operating companies: Lawson, TestEquity and Gexpro Services), and the internal audit department regarding the cybersecurity risk management program. Among other things, these reports have focused on the following:

• recent cyber risk and cybersecurity developments;
• cyber risk governance and oversight;
• assessments by third-party experts;
• key cyber risk metrics and activities; and
• major projects and initiatives.

We have also established a governance structure under each of the CIOs that oversee investments in systems, resources, and processes as part of the continued maturity of our cybersecurity posture. Our CIOs have collectively over seventy years of service in various roles in the cybersecurity and information technology areas, including over forty years in their current roles or within the industry.

Our principal executive office is located in Fort Worth, Texas. As of December 31, 2024, we owned or leased multiple properties in the United States and abroad, including office spaces, distribution centers, warehouses and branch retail locations.

Owned and leased properties by reportable segment as of December 31, 2024 are summarized below.

(1) Includes our principal executive office.

(2) Unoccupied facility related to a discontinued business in a prior year.

While we believe that our facilities are adequate to meet our current needs, we will continue to assess the location and operation of our facilities to determine whether they meet the strategic needs of our business.

See Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies to our consolidated financial statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, for a description of certain of our pending legal proceedings, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. In addition, the Company is involved in legal actions that arise in the ordinary course of business.

The following discussion and analysis of DSG’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in DSG’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed on March 7, 2024, the audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in DSG’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed on March 14, 2023 and the Lawson Products, Inc. unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022, filed on April 28, 2022.

This section of the Annual Report on Form 10-K generally discusses the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 and the year-over-year comparisons between the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. As a result of the change in our operating and reportable segments during the third quarter of 2024, this section also presents year-over-year comparisons between the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022 on a recasted basis to reflect the change. For additional details about our segment realignment in the third quarter of 2024, see Note 1 – Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

References to “DSG”, the “Company”, “we”, “our” or “us” refer to Distribution Solutions Group, Inc. and all entities consolidated in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Overview

Organization and Structure

DSG is a multi-platform specialty distribution company providing high touch, value-added distribution solutions to the maintenance, repair and operations (“MRO”), the original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) and the industrial technologies markets.

We manage and report our operating results through four reportable segments: Lawson, TestEquity, Gexpro Services and Canada Branch Division. A summary of our segments is presented below. For additional details about our segments, see Item 1. Business and Note 14 – Segment Information in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Lawson is a distributor of specialty products and services to the industrial, commercial, institutional and government MRO market.

TestEquity is a distributor of test and measurement equipment and solutions, industrial and electronic production supplies, vendor managed inventory programs, and converting, fabrication and adhesive solutions from its leading manufacturer partners supporting the aerospace and defense, wireless and communication, semiconductors, industrial electronics and automotive, and electronics manufacturing industries.

Gexpro Services is a global supply chain solutions provider, specializing in the development of mission critical production line management, aftermarket and field installation programs.

Canada Branch Division combines the operations of our Bolt and Source Atlantic subsidiaries, which distribute industrial MRO supplies, safety products, fasteners, power tools and related value-add services to the Canadian MRO market through the sale of products and services via warehouse shipments and to its walk-up customers through 38 branch locations.

In addition to these four reportable segments, we have an “All Other” category which includes unallocated DSG holding company costs that are not directly attributable to the ongoing operating activities of our reportable segments.

Recent Events

2024 Business and Asset Acquisitions

On November 18, 2024, DSG acquired the assets of ConRes Test Equipment, (“ConRes TE” and the “ConRes TE Transaction”). These assets were acquired to expand TestEquity’s test equipment offerings and value-add service capabilities in all of our end markets. The results of operations from the additional assets acquired from ConRes TE have been included in the TestEquity reportable segment subsequent to its acquisition date.

On October 30, 2024, DSG completed the acquisition of Tech-Component Resources Pte Ltd (“TCR” and the “TCR Transaction”). TCR is a distributor of fasteners, mechanical components, and other industrial products in Southeast Asia. TCR was acquired to provide us with a strategic foothold in this growing region. The results of operations of TCR have been included in the Gexpro Services reportable segment subsequent to its acquisition date.

On August 14, 2024, DSG completed the acquisition of Source Atlantic Limited (“Source Atlantic” and the “Source Atlantic Transaction”). Source Atlantic, headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, is a wholesale distributor of industrial MRO supplies, safety products, fasteners, and related value-add services for the Canadian MRO market. Source Atlantic was acquired to expand DSG’s operating footprint in the Canadian market. The results of operations of Source Atlantic have been included in the Canada Branch Division reportable segment subsequent to its acquisition date.

On May 1, 2024, DSG completed the acquisition of S&S Automotive Inc. (“S&S Automotive” and the “S&S Automotive Transaction”). S&S Automotive is a distributor of automotive, industrial, and safety supplies primarily to the automotive dealership market based near Chicago in Woodridge, Illinois. S&S Automotive was acquired to expand Lawson’s services and products to the automotive end market. The results of operations of S&S Automotive have been included in the Lawson reportable segment subsequent to its acquisition date.

On January 19, 2024, DSG acquired the assets of Safety Supply Illinois LLC, conducting business as Emergent Safety Supply (“ESS” and the “ESS Transaction”). ESS is a national distributor of safety products based near Chicago in Batavia, Illinois. ESS was acquired to expand Lawson’s safety product category. The results of operations of ESS have been included in the Lawson reportable segment subsequent to its acquisition date.

Refer to Note 3 – Business and Asset Acquisitions in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional information about these acquisitions.

Debt Amendment

On August 14, 2024, the Company entered into the Third Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Third Amendment”). The Third Amendment provided for an additional $200 million incremental term loan and a $55 million increase in the senior secured revolving credit facility to $255 million, and permits the Company to increase the commitments under the agreement from time to time by up to $300 million in the aggregate, subject to, among other things, receipt of additional commitments from existing and/or new lenders and pro forma compliance with certain financial covenants. Refer to Note 9 – Debt in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional information about DSG’s credit agreement.

Sales Drivers

DSG believes that the Purchasing Managers Index (“PMI”) published by the Institute for Supply Management is an indicative measure of the relative strength of the economic environment of the industry in which it operates. The PMI is a composite index of economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector. A measure of the PMI index above 50 is generally viewed as indicating an expansion of the manufacturing sector while a measure below 50 is generally viewed as representing a contraction. The average monthly PMI was 48.3 in the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to 47.1 in the year ended December 31, 2023, and 53.5 in the year ended December 31, 2022.

Lawson Sales Drivers

The North American MRO market is highly fragmented. Lawson competes for business with several national distributors as well as a large number of regional and local distributors. The MRO business is impacted by the overall strength of the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy.

Lawson’s revenue is also influenced by the number of sales representatives and their productivity. Lawson plans to continue concentrating its efforts on increasing the productivity and size of its sales team. Additionally, Lawson drives revenue through the expansion of products sold to existing customers as well as attracting new customers and additional ship- to locations. Lawson also is expanding its inside sales team to help drive field sales representative productivity and also utilizes an e-commerce site to generate sales.

TestEquity Sales Drivers

Across the test and measurement, industrial and electronic production supplies businesses, the North American market is highly fragmented with competitors ranging from large global distributors to national and regional distributors.

Through the Hisco Transaction, TestEquity expanded its product offerings, including adhesives, chemicals and tapes as well as specialty materials such as electrostatic discharge, thermal management materials and static shielding bags. Hisco operates in 32 locations across North America, including its Precision Converting facilities that provide value-added fabrication and its Adhesive Materials Group that provides an array of custom repackaging solutions. Hisco also offers vendor-managed inventory and Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) programs with specialized warehousing for chemical management, logistics services and cold storage.

Gexpro Services Sales Drivers

The global supply chain solutions market is highly fragmented across Gexpro Services’ key vertical segments. Gexpro Services’ competitors range from large global distributors and manufacturers to small regional domestic distributors and manufacturers. Gexpro Services’ revenue is influenced by our OEMs’ production schedules, new product introduction launches, and service project needs.

Gexpro Services’ strategy is to increase revenue through increasing wallet share with existing customers, customer-led geographic expansion, new customer development in its six key vertical markets and leveraging its portfolio of recent acquisitions to expand its installation and aftermarket services.

Canada Branch Division Sales Drivers

Canada Branch Division combines the operations of our Bolt and Source Atlantic subsidiaries, which distribute industrial MRO supplies, safety products, fasteners, power tools and related value-add services to the Canadian MRO market through the sale of products and services via warehouse shipments and to its walk-up customers through 38 branch locations. Source Atlantic was acquired to expand DSG’s operating footprint in the Canadian market.

Canada Branch Division’s strategy is to grow revenue through increasing wallet share with existing customers, via introduction of new product lines and services in geographic areas that were underserviced previously. Additionally, Canada Branch Division will engage new customers and additional ship-to locations with its national sales team.

Supply Chain Disruptions

We continue to be affected by rising supplier costs caused by inflation and increased transportation and labor costs. We have instituted various price increases during 2023 and 2024 in response to rising supplier costs, as well as increased transportation and labor costs in order to manage our gross profit margins.

Cyber Incident Litigation

On February 10, 2022, DSG disclosed that Lawson Products’ computer network was the subject of a cyber incident potentially involving unauthorized access to certain confidential information (the “Cyber Incident”). DSG engaged a cybersecurity forensics firm to assist in the investigation of the incident and to assist in securing its computer network.

Because of the nature of the information that may have been compromised, DSG was required to notify the parties whose information was potentially compromised of the incident as well as various governmental agencies and has taken other actions, such as offering credit monitoring services. On April 4, 2023, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against DSG related to the Cyber Incident (the “Cyber Incident Suit”). At December 31, 2024, DSG had not incurred material costs as a result of the Cyber Incident. For more information about the Cyber Incident Suit, refer to Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Factors Affecting Comparability to Prior Periods

Our results of operations are not directly comparable on a year-over-year basis due to various business combinations. We account for acquisitions under Accounting Standards Codification 805, Business Combinations (“ASC 805”). Accordingly, the results of acquisitions are only included subsequent to their respective acquisition dates. Business combinations that affected the year-over-year comparability of our financial results were as follows:

2024 Comparability Factors

Refer to the 2024 Business Acquisitions section above for a description of each acquisition completed in 2024 and the reportable segment that each acquisition’s respective results of operations is included in.

2023 Comparability Factors

On June 8, 2023, we completed the acquisition of HIS Company, Inc. The results of operations of HIS Company, Inc. have been included in the TestEquity reportable segment subsequent to the acquisition date.

2022 Comparability Factors

On April 1, 2022 (the “Merger Date”) we completed the Mergers whereby TestEquity and Gexpro Services became wholly-owned subsidiaries of DSG. The Mergers were accounted for as a reverse merger under the accounting guidance for reverse acquisitions as provided in ASC 805. Under this guidance, TestEquity and Gexpro Services were treated as a combined entity as the accounting acquirer for financial reporting purposes, and DSG was identified as the accounting acquiree. This determination was primarily made as TestEquity and Gexpro Services were under the common control of an entity that owned a majority of the voting rights of the combined entity, and therefore, only DSG experienced a change in control. Accordingly, the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 include the results of operations of TestEquity and Gexpro Services on a consolidated basis for the full year, and the results of operations of DSG’s legacy Lawson, Canada Branch Division and All Other have only been included subsequent to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date.

2022 Supplemental Information - Lawson and Canada Branch Division Pro Forma Operating Income and Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA

For management to discuss Lawson’s and Canada Branch Division’s operating results on a comparable basis, Lawson’s and Canada Branch Division’s GAAP results of operations were adjusted to include Lawson’s and Canada Branch Division’s historical pre-merger components of operating income, prior to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date, along with pre-merger pro forma adjustments prepared under SEC Regulation S-X Article 11, in order to reflect the total operating activities attributable to Lawson and Canada Branch Division for each period presented. Management believes this supplemental information provides the most meaningful basis of comparison for Lawson’s and Canada Branch Division’s operations, is more useful in identifying current business trends, and is important for the users of our financial statements in understanding Lawson’s and Canada Branch Division’s businesses. Refer to Note 1 – Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation and Note 3 – Business and Asset Acquisitions within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for information about the Mergers.

This supplemental information may not reflect the actual results we would have achieved had the Mergers occurred at the beginning of 2022 and should not be viewed as a substitute for the results of operations presented in accordance with GAAP. Lawson’s and Canada Branch Division’s historical operating results prior to the Mergers were obtained from the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included in the Lawson Products, Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022. The pro forma adjustments were obtained from the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information included in DSG’s Current Report on Form 8-K/A filed on August 24, 2023.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company’s management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures may provide users of this financial information with additional meaningful comparisons between current results and results in prior operating periods. Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures can provide additional meaningful reflection of underlying trends of the business because they provide a comparison of historical information that excludes certain infrequently occurring, seasonal or non-operational items that impact the overall comparability. These non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative for, the Company’s reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA

Management believes Adjusted EBITDA is an important measure of the Company’s operating performance and may provide investors with additional meaningful comparisons between current results and results in prior operating periods because Adjusted EBITDA excludes certain non-operational or non-cash items whose fluctuations from period to period do not necessarily correspond to changes in the operating performance of our business and consequently may impact the overall comparability from period to period. We define Adjusted EBITDA as operating income plus depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, severance and acquisition related retention costs, costs related to the execution and integration of acquisitions, inventory net realizable value adjustments, amortization of fair value step-up resulting from acquisitions and other non-recurring items. Management uses operating income and Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate the performance of its reportable segments. See Note 14 – Segment Information of our consolidated financial statements within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional information about our reportable segments.

The following table provides a reconciliation of Net income to Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis and Operating income to Adjusted EBITDA by segment for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022. A reconciliation of Net income to Adjusted EBITDA by segment is not provided because management does not determine or review net income at the segment level and does not allocate non-operating costs and expenses to its segments, such as income taxes, interest expense, and various other non-operating income and expense.

Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA (Unaudited)

(in thousands)

33

(in thousands)

(in thousands)

(1) Expense (benefit) primarily for stock-based compensation, of which a portion varies with the Company’s stock price.

(2) Includes severance expense from actions taken not related to a formal restructuring plan and acquisition related retention expenses.

(3) Transaction and integration costs related to acquisitions.

(4) Inventory net realizable value adjustment recorded to reduce inventory related to discontinued products where the anticipated net realizable value was lower than the cost reflected in our records.

(5) Inventory fair value step-up adjustment for acquisition accounting related to acquisitions completed.

(6) Other non-recurring costs consist of certain non-recurring strategic projects and other non-recurring items.

(7) Includes the operating results of Lawson, Canada Branch Division and All Other subsequent, but not prior, to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date in accordance with GAAP accounting guidance for reverse acquisitions.

Composition of Results of Operations

The following results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 include the combined operations of DSG, while the following results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 include the accounts of the TestEquity and Gexpro Services combined entity, as the accounting acquirer, for the full year, and the results of DSG’s legacy Lawson, Canada Branch Division and All Other businesses have only been included for activity subsequent, and not prior, to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date.

Segment revenue and Operating income (loss) by reportable segment includes sales to external customers and sales transactions between our segments, referred to as intersegment revenue, and the impact of those intersegment revenue transactions on operating activities. Reconciliations of segment revenue and Operating income (loss) to our consolidated results of operations in the consolidated financial statements are provided in Note 14 – Segment Information within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS FOR 2024 AS COMPARED TO 2023

Consolidated Results of Operations

(Dollars in thousands)

Overview of Consolidated Results of Operations

Our consolidated revenue increased $233.7 million for 2024 compared to 2023 primarily driven by $268.2 million of revenue from acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2024 offset by a decline in organic revenue of $34.5 million. Consolidated Gross profit and Selling, general and administrative expenses also increased over the prior year primarily driven by the inclusion of the Hisco, ESS, S&S, Source Atlantic, TCR and ConRes TE acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2024.

Refer to Results by Reportable Segment below for a complete discussion of our results of operations.

Results by Reportable Segment

Lawson Segment

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $0.3 million, or 0.1%, to $469.0 million in 2024 compared to revenue of $468.7 million in 2023. The increase was primarily driven by $39.8 million of revenue generated from the acquisitions completed in 2024 and strengthening sales within the automotive end market of $2.9 million, offset by a decline in sales to Lawson’s core, governmental and strategic customers of $42.4 million primarily as a result of fewer sales representatives.

Gross profit decreased $8.2 million, or 3.1%, to $257.3 million in 2024 compared to gross profit of $265.5 million in 2023 primarily due to a shift in sales toward larger lower margin profile customers and the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory of $1.1 million related to the S&S Automotive Transaction. Lawson gross profit as a percent of revenue was 54.8% in 2024 compared to gross profit as a percent of revenue of 56.6% in the prior year. The gross profit margin percentage decrease for 2024 was primarily the result of the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory of $1.1 million related to the S&S Automotive Transaction, a shift in sales toward larger lower margin profile customers and a lower margin profile from the 2024 acquisitions than its organic margin profile.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of compensation and support for Lawson sales representatives as well as expenses to operate Lawson’s distribution network and overhead expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $9.7 million to $242.7 million in 2024 compared to $233.0 million in 2023. Approximately $10.3 million of the increased expenses was driven by the acquisitions completed in 2024 in addition to higher severance and merger and acquisition expenses of $4.5 million and $4.0 million, respectively. These costs were partially offset by a decrease in stock-based compensation expense of $3.8 million and a decrease in variable compensation as a result of lower sales.

During 2024, Lawson generated Adjusted EBITDA of $56.4 million, a decrease of 11.4% or $7.3 million from the prior year primarily driven by lower organic revenue and gross profit margin partially offset by contributions of approximately $6.2 million generated by the acquisitions completed in 2024.

TestEquity Segment

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $129.4 million, or 20.2%, to $771.2 million in 2024 compared to $641.8 million in 2023. The increase was primarily driven by $157.4 million of revenue generated from acquisitions completed in 2024 and 2023, partially offset by a $28.0 million decline in legacy TestEquity revenue due to a slowdown in the electronics assembly market causing softening in the electronic production supplies end markets.

Gross profit increased $34.0 million to $175.8 million in 2024 compared to $141.9 million in 2023 primarily as a result of the inclusion of the acquisitions completed in 2024 and 2023, which generated $39.5 million of additional gross profit during 2024, partially offset by a decrease in gross profit on the decline in legacy TestEquity revenue. TestEquity gross profit as a percent of revenue increased to 22.8% in 2024 compared to 22.1% in the prior year. 2023 included expense of $3.6 million for the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory related to the acquisition completed in 2023.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of compensation and support for TestEquity’s sales representatives and expenses to operate TestEquity’s distribution network and overhead expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $13.5 million to $171.8 million in 2024 compared to $158.3 million in 2023. Approximately $17.3 million of the increased expenses, including depreciation, was driven by the acquisitions completed in 2024 and 2023. These costs were partially offset by lower merger and acquisition expenses of $4.0 million and lower personnel expenses in 2024 compared to 2023 inclusive of severance and acquisition related retention expenses.

During 2024, TestEquity generated Adjusted EBITDA of $56.3 million, an increase of $13.0 million from the same period a year ago with an increase of approximately $16.2 million driven by the acquisitions completed in 2024 and 2023, partially offset by a reduction of $3.2 million in legacy TestEquity primarily due to a decline in organic revenue.

Gexpro Services Segment

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $35.0 million, or 8.6%, to $440.7 million in 2024 compared to $405.7 million in 2023. There were two more selling days in the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to the same period a year ago. A selling day generally represents a business day in which Gexpro Services ships products to its customers. Average daily sales increased 7.8% over the same period a year ago. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by increased sales in the renewable energy vertical market of $21.8 million, increased sales in the aerospace and defense vertical market of $6.4 million, strengthening sales within the technology vertical market of $6.7 million and $0.6 million of revenue generated from the acquisition completed in 2024, partially offset by softness within the consumer and industrial vertical market.

Gross profit increased $17.4 million to $138.5 million in 2024 compared to $121.1 million in 2023. Gexpro Services’ gross profit as a percent of revenue was 31.4% in 2024 compared to 29.8% in the prior year period. The gross profit margin percentage improvement for 2024 was primarily the result of strategic sourcing initiatives, supply chain improvements and end market sales mix.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of sales and marketing expenses primarily relating to compensation, costs associated with supporting Gexpro Services’ service facilities, overhead expenses within finance, legal, human resources and information technology, and other costs required to operate Gexpro Services’ business.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $7.9 million to $102.0 million in 2024 compared to $94.1 million in 2023. The increase was primarily driven by additional consulting costs of $1.8 million to support non-recurring strategic projects, non-recurring legal fees of $1.0 million and investments to support future growth and additional compensation.

During 2024, Gexpro Services generated Adjusted EBITDA of $55.8 million, an increase of $10.6 million, or 23.4% from 2023 primarily driven by higher organic revenue and managing gross profit margins, partially offset by an increase in Selling, general, and administrative expenses.

Canada Branch Division Segment

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $69.2 million, or 123.8%, to $125.1 million in 2024 compared to $55.9 million in 2023. The increase was primarily driven by $70.3 million of revenue generated from the acquisition of Source Atlantic completed in 2024, partially offset by a decline in organic Canada Branch Division revenue of $1.1 million.

Gross profit increased $18.7 million to $42.2 million in 2024 compared to gross profit of $23.5 million in 2023 primarily as a result of the inclusion of the acquisition of Source Atlantic completed in 2024, which generated $18.7 million of additional gross profit during 2024. Gross profit as a percent of revenue decreased to 33.7% in 2024 compared to 42.0% in the prior year primarily due to the lower gross profit margin profile of Source Atlantic as compared to Bolt.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses for Canada Branch Division consist of compensation, expenses to operate its distribution network and branch locations and overhead expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $18.4 million to $36.2 million in 2024 compared to $17.8 million in 2023. Approximately $18.1 million of the increased expenses, including depreciation, was driven by the acquisition of Source Atlantic completed in 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA

During 2024, Canada Branch Division generated Adjusted EBITDA of $11.7 million, an increase of $3.8 million from the same period a year ago with an increase of approximately $4.1 million driven by the acquisition of Source Atlantic completed in 2024.

Consolidated Non-operating Income and Expense

(Dollars in thousands)

N/M Not meaningful

Interest Expense

Interest expense increased $12.4 million in 2024 compared to 2023 primarily due to an increase in interest rates and higher outstanding borrowings related to the acquisitions of Hisco, S&S Automotive, Source Atlantic, TCR and ConRes TE.

Change in Fair Value of Earnout Liabilities

The $1.0 million expense in 2024 and the $0.8 million benefit in 2023 related to the change in fair value of the earnout liabilities associated with the Frontier acquisition.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists of effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, interest income, net and other non-operating income and expenditures. The $2.6 million change in 2024 compared to 2023 was partly due to favorable increases in interest income and favorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Income tax expense was $6.8 million, a (1,267.9)% effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to income tax expense of $7.0 million and a (346.8)% effective tax rate for the prior year. The change in the year-over-year effective tax rate was primarily due to a change in valuation allowances related to interest expense limitation deferred tax assets. The disproportionate effective tax rates were caused by limitations on the deductibility of interest expense and other permanent items on a small pre-tax loss amount.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS FOR 2023 AS COMPARED TO 2022

Consolidated Results of Operations

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Includes the operating results of Lawson, Canada Branch Division and All Other subsequent, but not prior, to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date.

Overview of Consolidated Results of Operations

Our consolidated results of operations include the financial impact of the Mergers that were completed on April 1, 2022 and the other acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2022. The increase in gross profit for 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily due to the inclusion of Lawson and Canada Branch Division operations only subsequent, and not prior, to the Merger Date and to the Hisco and other acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2022. Expenses for 2023 were impacted by the other acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2022.

Refer to Results by Reportable Segment below for a complete discussion of our results of operations.

Results by Reportable Segment

Lawson Segment

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $143.9 million, or 44.3%, to $468.7 million in 2023 compared to revenue of $324.8 million in the same period of 2022 primarily due to $125.3 million of revenue in the first quarter of 2023 with no comparable amount in 2022 due to the inclusion of Lawson operations beginning on the Merger Date and not including any Lawson operations prior to the Merger Date. The remaining increase was primarily driven by strengthening sales to Lawson’s strategic and governmental customers and automotive end market customers from a combination of organic growth and the realization of price increases enacted throughout 2022 and 2023 to offset rising supplier costs.

Gross profit increased $94.7 million, or 55.5%, to $265.5 million in 2023 compared to gross profit of $170.8 million in the same period of 2022 primarily due to $70.9 million of gross profit in the first quarter of 2023 with no comparable amount in 2022 due to the inclusion of Lawson operations beginning on the Merger Date and not including any Lawson operations prior to the Merger Date. The remaining increase was primarily the result of increased sales volume, price increases and lower net freight expense and spreading operating expenses over a higher sales level. Lawson gross profit as a percent of revenue was 56.6% in 2023 compared to gross profit as a percent of revenue of 52.6% in the prior year period. The gross profit margin percentage improvement for 2023 was primarily the result of price increases, lower net freight expense and leveraging operating expenses over a higher sales base. The gross profit margin percentage for the same period of 2022 was impacted by increased supplier costs from inflation and supply chain disruptions and a sales shift toward lower margin customers. Gross profit margin for 2022 was also impacted by an inventory charge of $1.7 million to reduce inventory related to discontinued products where the anticipated net realizable value was lower than the cost reflected in our records and the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory of $1.9 million related to the Mergers.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of compensation and support for Lawson sales representatives as well as expenses to operate Lawson’s distribution network and overhead expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $68.7 million to $233.0 million in 2023 compared to Selling, general and administrative expenses of $164.2 million in the same period of 2022 primarily due to $62.7 million of Selling, general and administrative expenses in the first quarter of 2023 with no comparable amount in 2022 due to the inclusion of Lawson operations beginning on the Merger Date and not including any Lawson operations prior to the Merger Date.

During 2023, Lawson generated Adjusted EBITDA of $63.7 million, an increase of 108.2% or $33.1 million from the same period a year ago primarily due to $18.5 million of Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2023 with no comparable amount in 2022 due to the inclusion of Lawson operations beginning on the Merger Date and not including any Lawson operations prior to the Merger Date and increased revenue and gross profit margin partially offset by an increase in Selling, general and administrative expenses.

Supplemental Information

For management to discuss Lawson’s operating results on a comparable basis, Lawson’s GAAP results of operations were adjusted to include Lawson’s historical pre-merger components of operating income, prior to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date, along with pre-merger pro forma adjustments prepared under SEC Regulation S-X Article 11, in order to reflect the total operating activities attributable to Lawson for each period presented. These pro forma results presented in the tables below are referred to within this supplemental results of operations discussion concerning Lawson as “pro forma”.

Refer to the section titled 2022 Supplemental Information - Lawson and Canada Branch Division Pro Forma Operating Income and Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA above for further explanation of the calculation of this supplemental information.

Lawson Pro Forma Results - Calculation of Supplemental Information (Unaudited)

(in thousands)

(1) Operating income prepared in accordance with GAAP, which includes Lawson’s results of operations subsequent, but not prior, to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date. See Note 1 – Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation.

(2) Lawson’s results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022, which occurred prior to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date and were not included in the Company’s GAAP operating results under reverse merger acquisition accounting.

(3) Pro-forma adjustments include the incremental expense related to the fair value adjustment of share-based compensation awards of $1.9 million and the net impact of $2.2 million from the elimination of historical depreciation and amortization expense and recognition of new depreciation expense on the fair value of property, plant and equipment and amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets.

(4) Lawson’s pro forma results of operations adjusted for comparability on a period-over-period basis. These results represent Lawson’s total operating activities for the year ended 2022, regardless of the Merger Date (that is, they reflect both pre- and post-Merger results of Lawson, including the pro forma adjustments related to the pre-Merger period).

(5) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section above for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Lawson - 2023 as Compared to Pro Forma 2022 (Unaudited)

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) For comparability purposes, Lawson’s GAAP results of operations were adjusted to include the historical unaudited results of Lawson prior to the Merger Date and certain pro-forma adjustments including the incremental expense related to the fair value adjustment of share-based compensation awards and incremental depreciation and amortization expense related to the fair value adjustments of property, plant and equipment and identifiable intangible assets. Refer to the section Factors Affecting Comparability to Prior Periods and the section 2022 Supplemental Information - Lawson and Canada Branch Division Pro Forma Operating Income and Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA and the section Lawson Pro Forma Results - Calculation of Supplemental Information (Unaudited) for more information related to the calculation of adjusted amounts.

(2) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $39.0 million, or 9.1%, to $468.7 million in 2023 compared to pro forma revenue of $429.7 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily driven by strengthening sales to Lawson’s strategic and governmental customers of $25.2 million and automotive end market customers of $13.5 million from a combination of organic growth and the realization of price increases enacted throughout 2022 and 2023 to offset rising supplier costs.

Gross profit increased $39.2 million to $265.5 million in 2023 compared to pro forma gross profit of $226.3 million in the same period of 2022 primarily as a result of increased sales volume and price increases, which contributed to an increase in gross profit of $29.4 million, lower net freight expense of $2.9 million, lower expense for write-offs of obsolete and excess inventory of $3.2 million and spreading operating expenses over a higher sales level. Lawson gross profit as a percent of revenue was 56.6% in 2023 compared to pro forma gross profit as a percent of pro forma revenue of 52.7% in the prior year period. The gross profit margin percentage improvement for 2023 was primarily the result of price increases, lower net freight costs, lower expense for write-offs of obsolete and excess inventory and leveraging operating costs over a higher sales base. The pro forma gross profit margin percentage for the same period of 2022 was impacted by increased supplier costs from inflation and supply chain disruptions and a sales shift toward lower margin customers. Pro forma gross profit margin for 2022 was also impacted by an inventory charge of $1.7 million to reduce inventory related to discontinued products where the anticipated net realizable value was lower than the cost reflected in our records and the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory of $1.9 million related to the Mergers.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of compensation and support for Lawson sales representatives as well as expenses to operate Lawson’s distribution network and overhead expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $20.2 million to $233.0 million in 2023 compared to pro forma Selling, general and administrative expenses of $212.7 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily driven by additional depreciation and amortization of $9.2 million as a result of the fair value step-up adjustments related to the reverse merger acquisition accounting and higher stock-based compensation of $12.2 million due to expense of $7.9 million in 2023 and a benefit of $4.2 million realized in 2022, partially offset by lower acquisition related costs of $4.7 million in 2023 compared to the same period of 2022.

During 2023, Lawson generated Adjusted EBITDA of $63.7 million, an increase of 64.8% or $25.0 million from the same period a year ago primarily driven by increased revenue and gross profit margin partially offset by an increase in Selling, general and administrative expenses.

TestEquity Segment

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $249.4 million, or 63.6%, to $641.8 million in 2023 compared to $392.4 million in the same period in 2022. The increase was primarily driven by $273.4 million of revenue generated from acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2022 offset by a $24.0 million decline in legacy TestEquity revenue due to a slowdown in the test and measurement market, primarily caused by tightening of capital budgets in TestEquity’s customer base and softening in the EPS end markets.

Gross profit increased $52.5 million to $141.9 million in 2023 compared to $89.4 million in the same period of 2022 primarily as a result of the inclusion of the acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2022, which generated $57.9 million of additional gross profit during 2023 offset by a decline in legacy TestEquity revenue. TestEquity gross profit as a percent of revenue decreased to 22.1% in 2023 compared to 22.8% in the prior year primarily due to the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory of $3.6 million related to the Hisco Transaction and a shift in sales mix from the lower gross margin rates from the 2022 and 2023 acquisitions.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of compensation and support for TestEquity’s sales representatives and expenses to operate TestEquity’s distribution network and overhead expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $80.3 million to $158.3 million in 2023 compared to $78.0 million in the same period of 2022. Approximately $68.8 million of the increased expenses, including depreciation, was driven by the acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2022 of which $22.8 million was related to the Hisco retention bonuses. The remaining increase in Selling, general and administrative expenses of $11.5 million is primarily due to $4.6 million of additional amortization of intangible assets acquired through the Hisco acquisition, $1.4 million of higher acquisition related expenses and $5.5 million of higher expenses for health insurance, allowance for doubtful accounts and other professional services.

During 2023, TestEquity generated Adjusted EBITDA of $43.3 million, an increase of $8.5 million from the same period a year ago with approximately $19.7 million driven by the acquisitions completed in 2023 and 2022 partially offset by $7.3 million due to lower gross profit margin on lower legacy TestEquity revenue and $3.9 million primarily due to higher expenses for health insurance, allowance for doubtful accounts and other professional services.

Gexpro Services Segment

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $20.4 million, or 5.3%, to $405.7 million in 2023 compared to $385.3 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily driven by strengthening sales within Gexpro Services’ Aerospace & Defense, Industrial Power, and Transportation end markets of $7.3 million, $17.7 million and $4.9 million, respectively, partially offset by continued softness in the Technology/Semiconductor end markets of $24.5 million. The increase also came from a combination of organic growth and the realization of price increases enacted throughout 2022 and 2023 to offset rising supplier costs.

Gross profit increased $8.2 million to $121.1 million in 2023 compared to $112.9 million in the same period of 2022 primarily as a result of increased sales volume and price increases and lower net freight expense of $6.1 million partially offset by an increase in expense for write-offs for obsolete and excess inventory of $3.6 million and higher freight capitalization of $0.5 million. Gexpro Services gross profit as a percent of revenue was 29.8% in 2023 compared to 29.3% in the prior year period. The gross profit margin percentage improvement for 2023 was primarily the result of price increases and lower net freight costs partially offset by higher expense for write-offs of obsolete and excess inventory.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of sales and marketing expenses primarily relating to compensation, costs associated with supporting Gexpro Services’ service facilities, overhead expenses within finance, legal, human resources and information technology, and other costs required to operate Gexpro Services’ business and service customers.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $2.5 million to $94.1 million in 2023 compared to $91.6 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily driven by $1.7 million of additional expenses from the Frontier acquisition completed at the end of the first quarter of 2022 and additional compensation and product fulfillment costs to support the organic sales growth.

During 2023, Gexpro Services generated Adjusted EBITDA of $45.2 million, an increase of $2.0 million, or 4.6% from the same period a year ago primarily driven by increased revenue and gross profit margin, partially offset by an increase in Selling, general, and administrative expenses.

Canada Branch Division Segment

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue increased $6.9 million, or 14.2%, to $55.9 million in 2023 compared to revenue of $49.0 million in the same period of 2022 primarily due to $14.6 million of revenue in the first quarter of 2023 with no comparable amount in 2022 due to the inclusion of Canada Branch Division operations beginning on the Merger Date and not including any Canada Branch Division operations prior to the Merger Date. This was partially offset by a decrease in the sale of fasteners to corporate customers in 2023 compared to 2022.

Gross profit increased $5.6 million, or 31.2%, to $23.5 million in 2023 compared to gross profit of $17.9 million in the same period of 2022 primarily due to $6.1 million of gross profit in the first quarter of 2023 with no comparable amount in 2022 due to the inclusion of Canada Branch Division operations beginning on the Merger Date and not including any Canada Branch Division operations prior to the Merger Date. Canada Branch Division gross profit as a percent of revenue was 42.0% in 2023 compared to gross profit as a percent of revenue of 36.6% in the prior year period. Gross profit margin for 2022 was impacted by the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory of $0.8 million related to the Mergers and a shift in sales mix to lower margin products, specifically fasteners sold to corporate customers.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses for Canada Branch Division consist of compensation, expenses to operate its distribution network and branch locations and overhead expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $4.5 million to $17.8 million in 2023 compared to Selling, general and administrative expenses of $13.3 million in the same period of 2022 primarily due to $4.5 million of Selling, general and administrative expenses in the first quarter of 2023 with no comparable amount in 2022 due to the inclusion of Canada Branch Division operations beginning on the Merger Date and not including any Canada Branch Division operations prior to the Merger Date.

During 2023, Canada Branch Division generated Adjusted EBITDA of $7.8 million, an increase of 6.6% or $0.5 million from the same period a year ago primarily due to $2.1 million of Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2023 with no comparable amount in 2022 due to the inclusion of Canada Branch Division operations beginning on the Merger Date and not including any Canada Branch Division operations prior to the Merger Date.

Supplemental Information

For management to discuss Canada Branch Division’s operating results on a comparable basis, Canada Branch Division’s GAAP results of operations were adjusted to include Canada Branch Division’s historical pre-merger components of operating income, prior to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date, along with pre-merger pro forma adjustments prepared under SEC Regulation S-X Article 11, in order to reflect the total operating activities attributable to Canada Branch Division for each period presented. These pro forma results presented in the tables below are referred to within this supplemental results of operations discussion concerning Canada Branch Division as “pro forma”.

Refer to the section titled 2022 Supplemental Information - Lawson and Canada Branch Division Pro Forma Operating Income and Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA above for further explanation of the calculation of this supplemental information.

Canada Branch Division Pro Forma Results - Calculation of Supplemental Information (Unaudited)

(in thousands)

(1) Operating income prepared in accordance with GAAP, which includes Canada Branch Division’s results of operations subsequent, but not prior, to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date. See Note 1 – Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation.

(2) Canada Branch Division’s results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022, which occurred prior to the April 1, 2022 Merger Date and were not included in the Company’s GAAP operating results under reverse merger acquisition accounting.

(3) There were no significant pro-forma adjustments for Canada Branch Division.

(4) Canada Branch Division’s pro forma results of operations adjusted for comparability on a period-over-period basis. These results represent Canada Branch Division’s total operating activities for the year ended 2022, regardless of the Merger Date (that is, they reflect both pre- and post-Merger results of Canada Branch Division, including the pro forma adjustments related to the pre-Merger period).

(5) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section above for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Canada Branch Division - 2023 as Compared to Pro Forma 2022 (Unaudited)

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) For comparability purposes, Canada Branch Division’s GAAP results of operations were adjusted to include the historical unaudited results of Canada Branch Division prior to the Merger Date and certain pro-forma adjustments including the incremental expense related to the fair value adjustment of share-based compensation awards and incremental depreciation and amortization expense related to the fair value adjustments of property, plant and equipment and identifiable intangible assets. Refer to the section Factors Affecting Comparability to Prior Periods and the section 2022 Supplemental Information - Lawson and Canada Branch Division Pro Forma Operating Income and Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA and the section Canada Branch Division Pro Forma Results - Calculation of Supplemental Information (Unaudited) for more information related to the calculation of adjusted amounts.

(2) Refer to the Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA section in Overview for a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA.

Revenue and Gross Profit

Revenue decreased $6.0 million, or 9.8%, to $55.9 million in 2023 compared to pro forma revenue of $61.9 million in the same period of 2022 primarily driven by a decrease in the sale of fasteners to corporate customers of $7.2 million and an unfavorable currency impact of $2.0 million, partially offset by an increase in branch sales of $3.2 million.

Gross profit increased $0.6 million to $23.5 million in 2023 compared to pro forma gross profit of $22.9 million in the same period of 2022 primarily as a result of a shift in sales mix to higher margin products. Canada Branch Division gross profit as a percent of revenue was 42.0% in 2023 compared to pro forma gross profit as a percent of pro forma revenue of 36.9% in the prior year period. The pro forma gross profit margin percentage for 2022 was impacted by the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory of $0.8 million related to the Mergers and a shift in sales mix to lower margin products, specifically fasteners sold to corporate customers.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses for Canada Branch Division consist of compensation, expenses to operate its distribution network and branch locations and overhead expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $0.5 million to $17.8 million in 2023 compared to pro forma Selling, general and administrative expenses of $17.3 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily driven by higher employee compensation costs.

During 2023, Canada Branch Division generated Adjusted EBITDA of $7.8 million, a decrease of 7.6% or $0.6 million from the same period a year ago primarily driven by a decrease in Canada Branch Division revenue partially offset by an increase in gross profit margin and Selling, general and administrative expenses.

Consolidated Non-operating Income and Expense

(Dollars in thousands)

N/M Not meaningful

Interest Expense

Interest expense increased $18.5 million in 2023 compared to the same period of 2022 primarily due to an increase in interest rates and higher borrowings related to the Hisco and other 2023 and 2022 acquisitions.

Loss on Extinguishment of Debt

The $3.4 million loss on extinguishment of debt in 2022 was primarily due to the write-off of previously capitalized financing costs as a result of the debt refinancing related to the Mergers.

Change in Fair Value of Earnout Liabilities

The $0.8 million benefit in 2023 related to the change in fair value of the earnout liabilities associated with the Frontier acquisition and the Hisco Transaction. The $0.5 million expense in 2022 primarily related to the change in fair value of the earnout derivative liability associated with the earnout provisions of the Merger Agreements and the Frontier earnout. Refer to Note 8 – Earnout Liabilities and Note 3 – Business Acquisitions within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for information about the earnout liabilities.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists of effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, interest income, net and other non-operating income and expenditures. The $2.3 million change in 2023 compared to the same period of 2022 was partly due to unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates and other insignificant changes in other non-operating income and expenditures.

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Income tax expense was $7.0 million, a (346.8)% effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to income tax expense of $5.5 million and a 42.8% effective tax rate for the prior year. The change in the year-over-year effective tax rate was primarily due to an increase in the partial valuation allowance against our excess interest expense carryforward balance, state taxes, foreign income and a pre-tax loss in the current year. The 2022 income tax was also impacted by the creation of a consolidated group for federal income tax purposes as a result of the completion of the Mergers.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Cash and cash equivalents were $66.5 million on December 31, 2024 compared to $83.9 million on December 31, 2023.

The Company believes its current balances of cash and cash equivalents, availability under its Amended Credit Agreement and cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet its liquidity needs for the next twelve months. On August 14, 2024, the Company borrowed $200 million under the incremental term loan of the Amended Credit Agreement. The Company used a portion of these proceeds to fund the Source Atlantic Transaction. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had $66.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and $253.0 million of borrowing availability remaining, net of outstanding letters of credit, under the Amended Credit Agreement.

Our primary short-term and long-term liquidity and capital resource needs are to finance operating expenses, working capital, capital expenditures, potential business acquisitions, strategic initiatives and general corporate purposes. Our current debt obligations under the Amended Credit Agreement mature in April 2027. Required principal payments on the Amended Credit Agreement for the next twelve months are $40.3 million. Refer to Note 9 – Debt within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional information related to our debt obligations. Access to debt capital markets has historically provided the Company with sources of liquidity, beyond normal operating cash flows. We do not anticipate having difficulty in obtaining financing from those markets in the future, however, we cannot provide assurance that unforeseen events or events beyond our control (such as a potential tightening of debt capital markets) will not have a material adverse impact on our liquidity.

Sources and Uses of Cash

The following table presents a summary of our cash flows:

(in thousands)

Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operations for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $56.5 million primarily due to non-cash items, partially offset by a net loss, payments of $34.6 million related to the Hisco retention bonuses and other net cash flow items.

Net cash provided by operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $102.3 million, primarily due to non-cash items, partially offset by a net loss and improvements in working capital.

Cash Provided by (Used in) Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $229.7 million, primarily due to the purchase of ESS, S&S Automotive, Source Atlantic, TCR and certain assets of ConRes TE as well as purchases of property, plant and equipment and rental equipment. This was partially offset by the sale of property, plant and equipment and rental equipment.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $278.5 million, primarily due to the Hisco Transaction, as well as purchases of property, plant and equipment and rental equipment which was partially offset by the sale of rental equipment.

Cash Provided by (Used in) Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $159.3 million primarily due to borrowings under the Company’s credit facility partially offset by principal payments on the term loans. In conjunction with the Source Atlantic Transaction, the Company borrowed $200 million under the incremental term loan facility on August 14, 2024. During 2024, deferred financing costs of $2.1 million were incurred related to the Amended Credit Agreement.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $250.4 million, due to borrowings under the Company’s credit facility and proceeds from a rights offering that we completed during the second quarter of 2023, partially offset by repayment of previous indebtedness and principal payments on the term loans. In conjunction with the Hisco Transaction, the Company borrowed $305.0 million under the incremental term loan facility on June 8, 2023 and raised approximately $98.5 million, net of offering costs, through the rights offering. During 2023, deferred financing costs of $3.4 million were incurred related to the First Amendment, dated June 8, 2023, to the Company’s credit facility.

Financing and Capital Requirements

Credit Facility

On August 14, 2024, in connection with the Source Atlantic Transaction, DSG entered into the Third Amendment, which provided for an additional $200 million incremental term loan and a $55 million increase in the Company’s senior secured revolving credit facility, and permits the Company to increase the commitments under the credit facility from time to time by up to $300 million in the aggregate, subject to, among other things, receipt of additional commitments from existing and/or new lenders and pro forma compliance with certain financial covenants.

As amended, the Amended Credit Agreement includes a $255 million senior secured revolving credit facility, a $250 million senior secured initial term loan facility, $505 million of incremental term loans, and a $50 million senior secured delayed draw term loan facility. Refer to Note 9 – Debt within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for a description of the Amended Credit Agreement.

On December 31, 2024, we had $739.9 million in outstanding borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement and $253.0 million of borrowing availability remaining, net of outstanding letters of credit, under the senior secured revolving credit facility component.

As of December 31, 2024, we were in compliance with all financial covenants under our Amended Credit Agreement. While we were in compliance with our financial covenants as of December 31, 2024, failure to meet the covenant requirements of the Amended Credit Agreement in future quarters could lead to higher financing costs and increased restrictions, reduce or eliminate our ability to borrow funds, or accelerate the payment of our indebtedness and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Purchase Commitments

As of December 31, 2024, we had contractual commitments to purchase approximately $173 million of products from our suppliers and contractors over the next twelve months.

Capital Expenditures

During the year ended December 31, 2024, total capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment and rental equipment were $23.2 million excluding proceeds from the sale of rental equipment. The Company expects to spend approximately $20 million to $25 million for capital expenditures during 2025 to support ongoing operations.

Stock Repurchase Program

The Company’s Board of Directors previously authorized a stock repurchase program that permits the Company to repurchase its common stock. The timing and the amount of any repurchases will be determined by management under parameters established by the Board of Directors and depend on various factors including an evaluation of our stock price, corporate and regulatory requirements, capital availability and other market conditions. In December 2023, the Board of Directors increased the existing repurchase program by $25.0 million bringing the total authorized to $37.5 million.

During 2024, the Company repurchased 85,644 shares of DSG common stock at an average cost of $30.13 per share for a total cost of $2.6 million. During 2023, the Company repurchased 138,725 shares of DSG common stock at an average cost of $26.09 per share for a total cost of $3.6 million. The remaining availability for stock repurchases under the program was $26.4 million at December 31, 2024. See Note 11 – Stockholders’ Equity within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for further information.

Retention Bonuses

Under the Hisco Purchase Agreement, DSG became obligated to pay $37.5 million in cash or DSG common stock in retention bonuses to certain Hisco employees that remain employed with Hisco or its affiliates for at least twelve months after the closing of the Hisco Transaction. Pursuant to the Hisco Purchase Agreement, the Company paid $1.8 million of the retention bonuses in 2023 and $34.6 million in 2024, with the remaining balance of $1.1 million to be paid in 2025.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND USE OF ESTIMATES

We have disclosed our significant accounting policies in Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies within Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. The following provides information on the accounts requiring more significant estimates.

Income Taxes - Deferred tax assets or liabilities reflect temporary differences between amounts of assets and liabilities for financial and tax reporting. Such amounts are adjusted, as appropriate, to reflect changes in enacted tax rates expected to be in effect when the temporary differences reverse. Significant judgment is required in determining income tax provisions as well as deferred tax asset and liability balances, including the estimation of valuation allowances and the evaluation of uncertain tax positions.

Goodwill Impairment - Goodwill represents the cost of business acquisitions in excess of the fair value of identifiable net tangible and intangible assets acquired. The Company reviews goodwill for potential impairment annually on October 1st, or when an event or other circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of the asset below its carrying value.

The first step in the multi-step process to determine if goodwill has been impaired and to what degree is to review the relevant qualitative factors that could cause the fair value of the reporting unit to decrease below the carrying value of the reporting unit. The Company considers factors such as macroeconomic, industry and market conditions, cost factors, overall financial performance and other relevant factors that would affect the individual reporting units. If the Company determines that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is greater than the carrying value of the reporting unit, then no further impairment testing is needed. If the Company determines that it is more likely than not that the carrying value of the reporting unit is greater than the fair value of the reporting unit, the Company will move to the next step in the process. The Company will estimate the fair value of the reporting unit and compare it to the reporting unit’s carrying value. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the Company will record an impairment of goodwill equal to the amount the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, up to the total amount of goodwill previously recognized.

Business Combinations - We allocate the purchase price paid for assets acquired and liabilities assumed in connection with our acquisitions based on their estimated fair values at the time of acquisition. This allocation involves a number of assumptions, estimates, and judgments in determining the fair value, as of the acquisition date, of the following:

• intangible assets, including the valuation methodology (the relief of royalty method for trade names and multi-period excess earnings method for customer relationships), estimations of future cash flows, discount rates, royalty rates, recurring revenue attributed to customer relationships, and our assumed market segment share, as well as the estimated useful life of intangible assets;
• deferred tax assets and liabilities, uncertain tax positions, and tax-related valuation allowances;
• inventory;
• property, plant and equipment;
• pre-existing liabilities or legal claims;
• contingent consideration, including estimating the likelihood and timing of achieving the relevant thresholds; and
• goodwill as measured as the excess of consideration transferred over the net of the acquisition date fair values of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed.

Our assumptions and estimates are based upon comparable market data and information obtained from our management and the management of the acquired companies. We allocate goodwill to the reporting units of the business that are expected to benefit from the business combination.

Interest Rate Risk

Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relate primarily to our floating rate long-term debt obligations. Interest rate risk is the exposure to loss resulting from changes in the level of interest rates and the spread between different interest rates. These risks are highly sensitive to many factors, including U.S. monetary and tax policies, U.S. and international economic factors and other factors beyond our control.

The loans under the Amended Credit Agreement bear interest, at the Company’s option, at a rate equal to (i) the Alternate Base Rate or the Canadian Prime Rate (each as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement), plus, in each case, an additional margin ranging from 0.0% to 1.75% per annum, depending on the total net leverage ratio of the Company and its restricted subsidiaries as of the most recent determination date under the Amended Credit Agreement or (ii) the Adjusted Term SOFR Rate or the CORRA Rate (each as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement), plus, in each case, an additional margin ranging from 1.0% to 2.75% per annum, depending on the total net leverage ratio of the Company and its restricted subsidiaries as of the most recent determination date under the Amended Credit Agreement. Refer to Note 9 – Debt within Item 8. Financial Statements for additional information about the Amended Credit Agreement.

As of December 31, 2024, 100% of our debt was floating rate debt. A hypothetical increase/decrease in interest rates of 100 basis points would increase/decrease our annual interest expense by approximately $7.4 million. We have not entered into, and currently do not intend to enter into, interest rate swaps or other derivative financial instruments to mitigate the impact of fluctuations in interest rates.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Under the supervision and with the participation of our senior management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as of the end of the period covered by this annual report (“the Evaluation Date”). Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded as of the Evaluation Date that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2024.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Company management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the Company as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. This system, which management has chosen to base on the framework set forth in the 2013 Internal Control-Integrated Framework, published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”), is under the supervision of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, is effected by the Company’s Board of Directors, management and other personnel, and is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

The Company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and the directors of the Company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, a system of internal control over financial reporting can provide only reasonable assurance and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Further, because of changes in conditions, effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting may vary over time.

Given the timing of the Source Atlantic Transaction, the S&S Automotive Transaction and the TCR Transaction and the complexity of systems and business processes, the Company has excluded Source Atlantic, S&S Automotive and Tech-Component Resources Pte Ltd, wholly-owned subsidiaries, from the scope of management’s report on internal control over financial reporting, representing approximately $114.5 million of total assets (excluding goodwill and intangible assets, which were integrated into the Company’s control environment) as of December 31, 2024 and $99.0 million of revenue for the year then ended.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls

A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect all control issues or misstatements, accordingly, our controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of our control system are met. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Board of Directors and Stockholders

Opinion on internal control over financial reporting

We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Distribution Solutions Group, Inc. (a Delaware corporation) and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by COSO.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the consolidated financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024, and our report dated March 6, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.

Basis for opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Our audit of, and opinion on, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting does not include the internal control over financial reporting of S&S Automotive Inc., Source Atlantic Limited and Tech-Component Resources Pte Ltd, wholly owned subsidiaries, whose financial statements reflect total assets and revenues constituting 7 and 5 percent, respectively, of the related consolidated financial statement amounts as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024. As indicated in Management’s Report, S&S Automotive Inc., Source Atlantic Limited and Tech-Component Resources Pte Ltd, were acquired during 2024. Management’s assertion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting excluded internal control over financial reporting of S&S Automotive Inc., Source Atlantic Limited and Tech-Component Resources Pte Ltd.

Definition and limitations of internal control over financial reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP

Dallas, Texas

March 6, 2025