It’s official. White Cap earlier this week formally traded hands after HD Supply Holdings Inc. sold the building materials distributor for $2.9 billion to an affiliate of the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which has combined the business with Construction Supply Group.

The result is a $4 billion-a-year distribution giant that will immediately rank in the Top 5 of MDM’s Market Leaders list for Building and Construction distributors and the Top 10 of our list of the 40 largest Industrial and Construction distributors.

In other words, a juggernaut. And the new joint owners of the combined White Cap and CSG — CD&R funds hold a 65% ownership interest in the combined company and the prior shareholders of CSG, led by The Sterling Group, hold a 35% interest — are understandably bullish on the new-look company.

It’s easy to see why based on the combined company’s profile. The combined White Cap and CSG will be a “North American distributor of a diverse mix of concrete accessories and specialty construction and safety products.”

And the businesses offer “highly complementary product offerings and geographic footprints, aligned cultures and strong talent focused on providing exceptional customer service to professional contractors,” the company says.

John Stegeman, CEO of White Cap, and Alan Sollenberger, president of White Cap, will lead the combined business, which is focused on “serving professional contractors with broader product and service offerings and expanded reach.”

“Both White Cap and CSG share the same vision of continuous growth with the goal to relentlessly improve customer service,” Stegeman said. “By joining together, our platform allows expansion of our product and service offerings across more than 400 locations in 46 U.S. States and 8 Canadian Provinces. Our goal is to provide even greater value for our customers and enhance our ability to serve with excellence. This is an incredibly exciting time for our associates, customers, and suppliers.”

What the Deal Means for Customers

The ability to better serve customers across the building materials and construction verticals is apparent from the numbers that White Cap and CSG provided. According to the company, the newly merged giant will boast:

• An outside sales force of more than 850 associates with significant industry experience
• More than 1,000 inside and counter sales associates to deliver on a promise of two-hour ready will call at company locations
• Nearly 2,000 delivery vehicles to enable our same day or next day service to job sites
• A comprehensive offering of 400,000+ products from more than 4,500 suppliers

“Both businesses have incredible histories of exceptional customer service,” Sollenberger said. “As we join together, we will continue to build on our vast experiences and stronger future by investing in focused local growth initiatives with the support of our national platform.”

The move is another huge building materials play for CD&R, which also owns Core & Main (another former HD Supply business and No. 13 on the Top 40 overall list with $3.4 billion in annual revenues) and Beacon Building Products (No. 3 on the Building and Construction list with $7.1 billion in annual revenues).

But that’s not all in the distribution space. CD&R has a tangential hook in the industry. The PE firm last week closed on its $4.7 billion acquisition of Epicor, the provider of industry-specific enterprise software to industrial sectors. The vendor’s Prophet 21 is the ERP choice for many distributors, so look for CD&R to boost Epicor’s status in the industrial markets.

“We believe Epicor is positioned to accelerate growth in the coming years based on the company’s reputation for quality and reliability and impressive portfolio of next-generation cloud products,” said CD&R Partner Jeff Hawn, who has assumed the role of chairman of the Epicor board. “We are focused on applying CD&R’s experience — both in software and industrial end markets — to support the talented Epicor management team and its growth plans, including the pursuit of strategic acquisitions.”