Daikin has transformed the North American HVAC industry over the past several years making significant inroads into the market with the purchase of Goodman Global Group Inc. by DIL in 2012 for $3.7 billion.  In 2015, DIL began construction of the Daikin Texas Technology Park (DTTP), a state-of-the-art business campus near Houston that includes research and development, manufacturing, engineering, logistics, marketing, distribution, and sales operations all under one roof. DTTP was completed in 2017, costing more than $450 million, which is the largest, single manufacturing plant investment in the 96-year history of DIL. DTTP sits on more than 500 acres, employs more than 7,000 people, and at more than 4 million square feet is one of the largest manufacturing facilities in the world — the size of 74 football fields. The acquisition of ABCO is another in a series of investments to support Daikin’s vision for growth in North America.

Daikin’s acquisition will support the continued growth of ABCO, providing opportunities to expand and grow its business – retaining and growing its contractor customer base, hiring new talent, adding more business technology, expanding product lines, and pursuing new growth and strategic opportunities. Daikin, along with other brands owned by Daikin, are new to ABCO.  ABCO will begin promoting the full line of Daikin ductless, residential unitary, light commercial, and commercial HVAC products as well as controls, air quality, parts, and accessories throughout their distribution footprint while continuing to fulfill existing obligations.  Michael Senter will continue as ABCO’s CEO and ABCO’s senior management team will continue to be the leaders of ABCO in all facets of sales, operations, finance, and human resources. ABCO will also maintain the company name with established brand recognition in the Northeast. 

“The strategic alignment with ABCO provides a dynamic foothold for Daikin in the Northeast where ABCO is a leading distributor of a broad range of HVAC products from residential to industrial,” said Takayuki “Taka” Inoue, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer of Goodman/Daikin North America. “We believe that Daikin’s portfolio offers a perfect fit to support the existing and future potential of ABCO distribution. Our vision for Daikin is to become North America’s leading indoor comfort solutions provider, and the acquisition of ABCO is a key, strategic milestone for Daikin in our continued effort to achieve our North American vision.”

“Both Daikin and ABCO are people-centered organizations,” said Michael Senter. “This means each team member and every customer is recognized for their individual personalities and contributions.  This fundamental belief in the integrity of relationships is essential to both organizations’ success. ABCO’s dedication to building strong, multigenerational relationships with our customers based on the highest levels of technical support, customer service, and application engineering is a great match for Daikin’s open-mindedness to new ideas and its commitment to engineering ingenuity in meeting current market demands and foreseeing future market and society needs.”

Jeff Drees, executive vice president, sales, marketing, and aftermarket for Daikin Applied Americas Inc., stated, “This is an exciting collaboration among the Daikin North American businesses and the ABCO team. Daikin Applied’s representatives will continue to be the authorized applied sales representatives in the territory and will benefit from ABCO’s technical skills and long-standing relationships in the marketplace.” 

Under the new ownership of Daikin, ABCO will operate as a wholly owned business unit of Daikin while maintaining its headquarters location in Long Island City, New York, in addition to 17 fast-access branch locations, in six states from Wilmington, Delaware, to Boston with more than 220 employees. 

Doug Widenmann, senior vice president and president, Daikin Business Unit, expressed, “I believe this is a major landmark moment for Daikin. Our strategic plans and successful growth accomplishments within this great organization have been unbelievably exciting. I am anxious to begin working with and learning from the ABCO management team who have successfully built a high-quality, highly technical sales and services organization with state-of-the-art training facilities focused on the success of their customers.” 

Andrew Senter, ABCO vice president of sales and operations and the third generation of Gottlieb-Senter family leadership to embrace the ABCO vision, further explained, “With this experience, we recognize the potential of innovative HVACR technology to enhance the growth and prosperity of our irreplaceable customers. The opportunity for ABCO as a Daikin member company is dynamic. Together, with Daikin, we are creating bold new channel teamwork to bring the ABCO commitment to service and quality to yet another generation of customers.”

For more information, visit www.daikin.com.