Why This Matters to Distributors: GME Supply’s acquisition of Peak Trading and ASK Tower Supply illustrates how specialty safety distributors are using targeted acquisitions to deepen technical expertise across adjacent markets rather than simply adding product SKUs or geographic coverage.
GME Supply, a Columbia, Mo.-based distributor of safety equipment, fall protection gear and customized workwear for trade professionals, acquired Peak Trading Corp., and ASK Tower and in the process added specialized capabilities in rigging and telecommunications tower supply to its existing platform.
Financial terms of both acquisitions were not disclosed.
GME Supply was founded in 2005 by Beau Aero and was acquired by Incline Equity Partners in July 2023. Ryan Keogh became president and chief executive officer effective Jan. 1, succeeding Caleb Messer, who moved to executive chairman. The company provides construction, telecommunications, oil and gas, wind generation and industrial markets.
Peak Trading Corp., established in 1997 and headquartered in Saugerties, N.Y., is a direct importer and wholesale distributor of wire rope, aircraft cable, chain, rigging and lifting equipment, rope, climbing gear and fall protection products.
Its in-house manufacturing division produces cable assemblies, wire rope assemblies and custom-length lifting slings. The company serves industrial rigging, rope and rescue, arborist, theatrical rigging, and construction markets.
ASK Tower Supply, based in New Mexico, distributes site hardware, critical components and safety and rescue equipment for the telecommunications tower construction and maintenance sector.
Kevin Pitcock, president and chief executive officer of Peak Trading, said the transaction gives his customers access to expanded logistics and deeper inventory. “By integrating with the larger GME platform, we can now accelerate our innovation and provide our industrial customers with enhanced logistics and a deeper inventory of the rigging and fall protection gear they depend on,” Pitcock said.
Kyle Barr, president of ASK Tower Supply, said the deal preserves the customer relationships his company built while adding scale.
The two acquisitions are GME Supply’s seventh and eighth on record, continuing an acquisition-driven growth strategy that has expanded the company’s product depth across adjacent safety and industrial markets. For wholesale distributors serving safety, construction and infrastructure sectors, the deals reflect a pattern in which specialty distributors use private equity backing to build vertically focused platforms through targeted acquisitions.
GME Supply’s combination of omnichannel distribution, product expertise, and at-height safety training positions across telecommunications, construction, and industrial markets where technical credibility and product depth carry as much weight as price and availability.
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