Anixter International, the electrical equipment maker backed by Sam Zell, has put its fasteners division up for sale a year after it failed to find a buyer for the whole company.
The sale of the fasteners division, which produces nuts, bolts and adhesives, is likely to fetch more than $500m, with final bids due later this month, according to people familiar with the matter.

Exact details about potential buyers could not be ascertained, but the auction, which is being managed by Goldman Sachs, has attracted interest from private equity, rather than strategic bidders, the people added.
Anixter, which has a market value of $2.9bn, had tried to sell itself early last year, with rival electrical equipment maker Rexel of France and private equity group Carlyle reported to be among the buyers. The process was pulled, however, after buyers failed to agree a price.

The Illinois-based company counts Chai Trust Company, a subsidiary of Sam Zell’s Equity Group Investments, as its largest shareholder with 11.33 per cent of the stock. The real estate billionaire, who has held a position in the company for about 30 years, is also on Anixter’s board.

The sale of the fasteners business comes at a time of feverish activity in global mergers and acquisitions, with the combination of cheap debt and rising corporate confidence driving levels of dealmaking not seen since the start of the financial crisis. Globally, the value of deals hit $3.34tn last year — the highest level since the start of the financial crisis.

Private equity buyers have struggled to get traction in the recent wave of M&A, with the number of leveraged buyouts falling in 2014. But carve outs, such as the sale of Anixter’s fasteners business, have provided opportunities in an otherwise fallow patch.

Anixter did not immediately return a request for comment. Goldman Sachs declined to comment.