Genuine Parts to spin off business to merge with Essendant
(Corrects second paragraph to show $347 million payment is to GPC and not GPC shareholders)
April 12 (Reuters) - Genuine Parts Co said it would spin off its wholesale distribution business S.P. Richards into a separate company and merge it with office furniture distributor Essendant in a deal structured as a Reverse Morris Trust.
The deal implied a valuation of about $680 million for S.P. Richards. Genuine Parts will get $347 million in cash and its shareholders will receive 51 percent of the newly-formed combined company.
(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)