Grainger Promotes John Kaul To President, Fabory

CHICAGO, July 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Grainger (NYSE: GWW), today announced that John Kaul has been named to the position of General Manager and President, Fabory Group, Grainger's European subsidiary with 2012 sales of more than €240 million. Kaul previously served as Vice President and General Manager, Western Canada for Grainger's Canadian subsidiary, Acklands-Grainger. He replaces Oswald van den Belt who recently left the company to pursue other opportunities.

"John brings an impressive track record of delivering results and developing talent that will benefit the Fabory team and our customers," said Mike Pulick, Senior Vice President & President, Grainger International. "The business performed well through challenging economic conditions under Oswald's leadership, and we expect John to continue to build on that success, helping Fabory advance its goal of providing businesses a complete range of fastening and MRO solutions to help them be efficient, safe and productive."

Kaul joined Grainger's Canadian business in 2004 as a District Manager in Alberta and was named Vice President of National Accounts in 2009 and Vice President and General Manager, Western Canada in 2012. Prior to joining the company, Kaul held a number of global leadership roles with BMW, Barclays Bank and Hilti North America. In his new role, Kaul will oversee the growth and performance of Fabory operations globally.

"Fabory has a proud, 66-year history and I'm thrilled and humbled to be joining this team," said Kaul. "I look forward to building on our momentum and continuing to share best practices and expertise across the company to help Fabory customers get more of the products and solutions they need while saving time and money."

Kaul holds a Masters degree in Engineering Management from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from University College London.

Kaul will be based in the Netherlands and will report to Pulick.

Fabory, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grainger, is a leading distributor of fastening products and related MRO products with more than 120 locations in 14 countries and more than 1,600 team members. For more information about Fabory, visit www.fabory.com.

W.W. Grainger, Inc., with 2012 sales of $9 billion, is North America's leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products, with expanding global operations. For more information about Grainger, visit www.grainger.com.