An infrastructure-systems company is expanding its Oklahoma City presence in a big way.

Anixter International Inc. is opening a third building in Oklahoma City. The $11 million, 75,000-square-foot warehouse is being constructed at the 8100 block of S. Pole Road. The site sits east of Interstate 35 and south of Interstate 240. The land was purchased in June 2018, according to county records.

Anixter provides technology and equipment for network and security distribution, electrical and electronic solutions. It is also the leading utility-power solutions distributor in North America.

The company has more than 600,000 products with over $1 billion in inventory.

In Oklahoma City, Anixter operates at 3217 Cooke Way and 1200 E. I-240 Service Rd., which is also off S. Pole Road. The new building will be the company’s largest in the city.

Including Oklahoma City, Anixter occupies a combined 9 million square feet, spread across 310 warehouses and branches in 50 countries.

Chicago-based Clayco is constructing the building out of steel and precast concrete. The building will have a 30-foot clear height and surface parking for 78 vehicles.

This is Clayco’s first project with Anixter in Oklahoma, though it is Clayco’s fifth project with the company. Clayco also built Anixter’s 176,000-square-foot headquarters in Glenview, Illinois, which is near Chicago.

Clayco CEO Kevin McKenna said in a prepared statement that the project allows the design-build company to use the breadth of its services.

“This project will allow us to leverage our fully integrated approach, including construction, real estate, design, procurement and self-performed concrete,” McKenna said.

A groundbreaking for the new building is scheduled for later this week, but a date has not been set.

Anixter, publicly traded as AXE, seems to be a stable company with opportunities to grow, according to Morningstar Equity Research’s Brian Bernard.

Bernard said in his March 5 analysis that Anixter had replaced Wessco International as his top industrial distributor pick. He said even with Amazon getting into industrial distribution, Anixter can still compete because it offers several services, along with its product line.

“We think Anixter’s service capabilities set the firm apart from most competitors and should help mitigate the impact from aggressive price-cutting tactics,” Bernard said. “Increased customer and/or supplier bargaining power due to disintermediation and consolidation could negatively affect Anixter’s profitability. However, the company’s customer and supplier base has expanded quite significantly over the years, likely dampening such bargaining power.”

Anixter’s customer base doesn’t depend on one single company and its supplier base is also 10 percent more diversified than it was in 2002, Bernard said. While Anixter is still a victim to cyclical downturns, the free cash flow is still resilient, he said.

The company has $8.4 billion in annual sales, and oil and gas businesses are a very small component.

“We think the company can maintain solid financial stability throughout the business cycle,” Bernard said.

A representative with Anixter said the company could not respond to questions by deadline.

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