M&A has a bigger role in building products
Activity in North America peaked in 2024
North America construction and building products deal value ($B)
North America
North America
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
$12B
12
21
21
16
28
41
17
59
46
32
19
45
24
46
16
18
19
26
21
28
57
18
$24B
25
54
65
33
35
19
21
27
20
23
13
$16B
Financial sponsor
Corporate M&A
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
2012
46
50
59
32
31
53
36
38
37
38
30
19
Deal count
73
66
54
34
42
42
48
53
46
58
52
54
83
112
108
87
92
99
81
117
89
83
76
81
Average deal value per year
Average deal count per year
2010–17
2018–24
$16B
$36B
2018–24
47
$24B
$27B
53
$21B
$37B
97
Frequent M&A boosts shareholder returns
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa construction and building products deal value ($B)
After a dip in Europe, the Middle East,
and Africa, activity spiked in 2021 and 2023
Asia-Pacific construction and building products deal value ($B)
After a spike in 2021, activity in Asia-Pacific has reverted to historic levels
Building products companies that regularly acquire others outperform their less active competitors
Global CAGR 2012–22
Annual total shareholder returns for building products 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; 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
$100B
60
40
20
0
Holcim-Lafarge: around $36B
Notes: Only includes deals with disclosed values over $50 million; North America 2018–24 average deal value excludes Home Depot–SRS and Quikrete–Summit Materials deals; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa 2010–17 average deal value excludes Holcim–Lafarge deal. Sources: Dealogic; analyst reports; Bain M&A database 2023 (N=2,533)
57
24
69
21
62
30
96
Choose a region
• Home Depot–SRS: around $18B
• Quikrete–Summit Materials:
around $12B
80
