March 2015 M&A Roundup: Building Materials Back in the News - Modern Distribution Management

March 2015 M&A Roundup: Building Materials Back in the News

Rumored $1.5 billion deal headlines yet another slow month for distribution activity.

March both came in and went out like a lamb, at least in terms of distribution merger-and-acquisition activity, with the month's loudest roar only a rumor for now.

Builders FirstSource, Dallas, TX, plans to purchase ProBuild Holdings Inc., Denver, CO, for $1.5 billion, according to a recent report from Reuters, which cited "people familiar with the matter." The move would fit Builders FirstSource's recent acquisitive streak – the company has bought five companies since the middle of last year – and it also furthers consolidation in the building materials sector, which again saw a busy month in M&A.

Building products distributor ABC Supply Co. Inc., Beloit, WI, made two deals in March. It acquired the exterior building products division of The Ar-Jay Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, and it acquired Western Roofing Supply Company Inc., Minneapolis, MN.

Distributor US LBM Holdings LLC, Green Bay, WI, acquired Lampert Lumber, St. Paul, MN, while Platinum Equity, a Los Angeles, CA-based global private equity firm, agreed to acquire PrimeSource Building Products Inc., Irving, TX, from Tokyo, Japan-based Itochu Corp.

In other sectors, Wolseley plc and its U.S. subsidiary, Ferguson, each made acquisitions last month. Wolseley acquired a "substantial shareholding" in BathEmpire.com, a B2C online bathroom retailer in the United Kingdom, with an option to acquire the remaining equity stake at a future date.  And Ferguson pulled off two acquisitions, buying Redlon & Johnson, a division of The Gage Company, and also buying Equarius Inc.

Sonepar continued its busy start to 2015 by acquiring four companies in March: Alfa Elektriciteit, Van Egmond Group, Electrical Distributors and QED.

And Saint-Gobain last month moved one step closer to its proposed takeover of Sika.

Here are other key deals that occurred in March 2015:

Graybar to Acquire Advantage Industrial Automation

Arrow Electronics to Acquire immixGroup

DGI Supply Acquires East Metro Supply

Jason Industries to Acquire Herold Partco Assets

RBC Bearings to Acquire Sargent Aerospace & Defense

IPH Group Forms Joint Venture with Italian Distributor

GHX Industrial Acquires Fugitt Rubber and Supply

Brady Industries Acquires Nevco Location in Idaho

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