M&A has a bigger role in building products
North America has recently seen more large deals
North America construction and building products deal value,
in billions of US dollars
North America
North America
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
$9B
14
12
22
21
17
28
48
18
59
46
32
24
46
16
18
19
26
21
28
58
19
25
$31B
54
65
33
36
25
21
33
20
24
16
19
$27B
Financial sponsor
Corporate M&A
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
2011
50
59
33
33
57
37
40
39
40
30
23
25
Deal count
66
54
35
42
42
49
54
48
60
53
56
73
113
109
87
94
102
81
123
92
87
81
88
99
Average deal value per year
Average deal count per year
2010–17
2018–23
$17B
$37B
2018–23
47
$24B
$28B
52
$23B
$40B
98
Frequent M&A boosts shareholder returns
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa construction and building products deal value, in billions of US dollars
After a dip in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, activity spiked in 2021 and 2023
Asia-Pacific construction and building products deal value,
in billions of US dollars
Momentum is slowing in Asia-Pacific
Building product companies that regularly acquire others outperform their less active competitors
Global CAGR 2012–22
Annual total shareholder returns for building product companies
Serial bolt-ons
Selective fill-ins
Mountain climbers
Selective large bets
Average more than one deal per year
Average less than one deal per year
Acquisition frequency
Less than 50% of buyer‘s market cap
More than 50% of buyer‘s market cap
Relative deal value
9.1%
9.6%
5.3%
6.5%
The industry has three main inherent challenges
But M&A in building products is hard
Concentrated product categories
Limited synergies across product categories
Highly local market dynamics with few geographic synergies
Economic uncertainty is creating opportunity as private equity steps back and many have cash for M&A. A robust capability delivers outsized returns
Leaders make M&A a differentiating skill
Prioritize opportunities (core vs. adjacency) and method (organic vs. M&A) for a growth strategy
Articulate and support goals with the right talent, tech, and management systems
Build a screening and sourcing framework to assess and target priority companies
$80B
60
40
20
0
Holcim-Lafarge merger: Nearly $36B
Note: Only includes deals with disclosed values over $50 million
Sources: Dealogic; analyst reports; Bain M&A database 2023 (N=2,533)
47
23
20
45
74
27
84
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