Genuine Parts buying stake in Australian company

NAPA is one of the brands owned by Atlanta-based Genuine Parts. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images)

NAPA is one of the brands owned by Atlanta-based Genuine Parts. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images)

Genuine Parts is buying a 35 percent stake in a Sydney, Australia-based distributor of industrial parts, with an option to buy the remaining stake in the future.

Atlanta-based Genuine Parts, whose brands include NAPA auto parts, will pay $70 million for the initial stake in Inenco Group, according to a press release Thursday.

Inenco operates in Australia, New Zealand and other nations in the region. It serves industries including mining, manufacturing, agriculture and food & beverage.

Paul Donahue, Genuine Parts’ CEO, said the deal “offers Genuine Parts Company the opportunity to build on its presence in Australasia and join with a leading industrial distributor in the large and growing Australasian marketplace.”

Genuine Parts had 2016 revenue of $15.3 billion. In addition to auto parts its units include Motion Industries, office products group S. P. Richards Company, and EIS Inc., which distributes electrical and electronic components.