Two notable trends--one expected, the other a bit more eye-opening--mark LBM's M&A activity over the past month.
The expected trend involved a trio of closures at single-store operations. The unexpected one saw a pair of companies spread their wings a bit, when Kodiak Building Partners bought a components manufacturer and framer and Professional Builders Supply (PBS) acquired a roofing and siding installer that's based in the Carolinas but also will take PBS for the first time to Nashville, TN.
Kodiak's 25th transaction since its founding landed Mandere Construction and Northwest Building Components, both based on a 12-acre site in Rathdrum, ID. Northwest produces wall panels and floor and roof trusses, while Mandere provides framing and installation services. Company founder John Mandere will continue as president, Kodiak said in a news release. The two companies will become part of Kodiak's General Lumber division.
The acquisition of Charlotte, NC-based SouthEnd Supply will add roughly $100 million to PBS' annual revenues, according to a news release. It marks an expansion of PBS' installed sales work outside of lumber, as SouthEnd specializes in roofing and siding installations. Theoretically, it also adds eight branches to the PBS network, including one in Nashville, TN, that would be a new territory for a PBS operations that currently is centered in the Carolinas. SouthEnd will continue to operate as a separate company, but it's possible that many of its locations will merge with existing PBS stores. That's why we didn't put them on the map above.
Beyond those two deals, the most notable M&A activity involved Central Network Retail Group. On May 20, it acquired H&M Lumber of West Helena, AR, and then on June 3 followed that with a deal to buy Germantown (TN) Hardware, located near CNRG's headquarters in Memphis, TN. H&M Lumber will be rebranded and operate as part of CNRG’s Home Hardware Center brand., a press release said. This is the 24th store in the Home Hardware Center brand, which is headquartered in Natchez, MS, and operates stores in five states.
All the closures involved single-store operations: Bear Paw Lumber, Havre, MT; Do-it Center, Riverside, CA; and Trio Home Center, Ellis, KS. June also is expected to be the month in which Marson and Marson will close its Chelan, WA, store and merge into the Lake Chelan Building Supply location in the same city. TAL Holdings bought Lake Chelan Building Supply earlier this year.
May saw two openings of greenfield branches: S.J. Neathawk launched a new operation in Montvale, VA, while The Lester Group unit launched a new branch of its New River Building Supply stores in Christiansburg, VA.
So far in 2020, we have had 124 locations involved in deals (94), openings (16), or closures (14). We had 101 locations at this time last year.