The ratings on Pittsburgh, Pa.-based WESCO International Inc. (WESCO), and its subsidiary WESCO Distribution Inc., reflect our expectation that the company will experience sustained, but softening, improvement in operating performance through the rest of 2011 and into 2012 as conditions remain mixed but on balance still positive in its key industrial, nonresidential, and government markets. We expect key credit metrics to fluctuate with acquisition activity but to remain at levels we consider satisfactory for the rating. We view WESCO's financial profile as "aggressive," which more than offsets its "satisfactory" business risk profile as a leading distributor of electrical construction products; maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) supplies; and integrated supply and outsourcing services. WESCO's partly debt-financed acquisition of TVC Communications LLC
