LBM Deals Pace Has Turned Sluggish Since Mid-April

LBM facilities acquired (blue pins), opened or soon to open (green) or closed (red) YTD in continental U.S. Source: Webb Analytics

The same lack of clarity regarding current business conditions appears to be gumming up LBM's M&A works as well. In the weeks since mid-April--i.e. the time when major tariffs were announced and then mostly postponed--there have been only 11 acquisitions involving a mere 15 facilities. In contrast, between March 20 and April 14, 13 deals took over 820 locations.

Year to date, 30 buyers have purchased a total of 863 construction supply facilities in 42 deals. That contrasts with the 79 acquisitions taking over 967 facilities in the first half of 2024. Store openings are closer, with 117 actual or announced greenfields this year vs. 107 in the same period in 2024.

Of the transactions that have occurred since mid-April, the biggest saw Spahn & Rose acquire Whit Davis Lumber, located in Cabot, Greenbrier, and Jacksonville, AR. The deal marks Spahn & Rose's first entry into Arkansas. Another Whit Davis yard, in Sherwood, AR, was closed.

In other actions recently:

• Northwoods Lumber bought Peterson Lumber of Thief River Falls, MN.

• Hancock Lumber entered Massachusetts for the first time by acquiring Johnson Lumber of Salisbury.

• Builders FirstSource launched a new truss plant in DeFuniak Springs, FL.

• 84 Lumber opened a window showroom in Pittsburgh as well as truss manufacturing facilities in Northwood, OH and Fort Collins, CO.

• W.E. Aubuchon expanded again by purchasing Wolf Family Hardware stores in Watertown and Woodbury, CT.

• Mafaz Ansar, who already owns an Ace hardware in Kentucky, took over Stout's Building Center of Mount Washington, KY.

• Westlake Ace Hardware bought Dale Hardware of Fremont, CA.

• SRS Distribution's Heritage Landscape Supply Group unit bought Greendell Landscape Solutions of Mooresville, IN, and Musselman Landscape Solutions of Noblesville, IN. Both were owned by Frank Greseking.

• Gold Hill Hardware & Lumber acquired Williams Trading Post in Red River, NM.

• Marcus Lumber opened a showroom in Sioux City, IA.

• Two brand-new companies opened up: Stadia Building Products in the Miami metro area and Cascade Building Supply in Cascade, ID.

• Convoy Supply, a roofing company, planted a store in Nampa, ID.

• ABC Supply's L&W Supply unit opened in Lake Charles, LA.

• Foundation Building Materials' RIS Insulation Supply opened in Boise, ID.

• Decks & Docks expanded to North Kingstown, RI.