The final month of 2014 continued a common theme in the flourishing merger-and-acquisition market, with building materials companies leading the way in both number and name recognition.
The sector was the most active for M&A in December – the third month in row it produced the highest volume – and it also included one of distribution's most notable deals when HD Supply Holdings Inc., Atlanta, GA, agreed to sell its hardware unit to Home Depot.
But the industrial giant – HD Supply ranked No. 3 on MDM's 2014 list of the Top 40 Industrial Distributors – wasn't the only building materials company that helped this sector dominate the consolidation story in fourth-quarter 2014.
Building products distributor ABC Supply Co. Inc., Beloit, WI – No. 1 on MDM's 2014 list of the Top 10 Building Materials & Construction Distributors – acquired two companies last month to expand its presence in the Midwest and New Jersey.
ABC Supply bought Siding World, Detroit, MI, a distributor of siding and other exterior building products including roofing, windows, doors, decking and gutters. And the company bought The Standard Group, a New Jersey distributor of roofing materials and other exterior building products.
Another building materials company, US LBM Holdings LLC, Green Bay, WI, made two acquisitions in December. The distributor acquired truss and wall panel manufacturer Lumber Specialties, Dyersville, IA, and drywall distributor American Masons and Building Supply Company, Hartford, CT.
Building materials company Builders FirstSource Inc. acquired Empire Truss, marking its fifth acquisition of 2014. Empire manufactures roof and floor trusses and distributes engineered wood products.
Other M&A deals in the buildings material sector included CRH selling its clay and concrete businesses and Norbord merging with Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd.
In other M&A news, France-based electrical distributor Sonepar – which pulled off the biggest deal of 2014 in September when it bought IDG – said it will acquire four companies to expand its presence in Southeast Asia.
Here are other key deals that occurred in December 2014:
Saint-Gobain Announces Planned Takeover of Sika
Kaman Sells Mexican Business Unit Delamac
United Stationers Sells MBS Dev
Ohio Transmission Acquires Ohlheiser
Midway Industrial Supply Acquires Contrast Equipment
Advent Acquires Distribution International
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Buys Fox Metals and Alloys
Regal Beloit to Acquire Emerson's Power Transmission Business
Bossard Group Acquires 60% of Torp Fasteners
DuPont to Sell Neoprene to Denka
Atlas Copco to Acquire Titan Technologies
H.B. Fuller to Acquire Continental Products Limited
