Fresh off a record year and fourth quarter for both revenue and profit, Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. doesn't plan to stand still after notching eight acquisitions in the just-ended fiscal year, according to President and CEO Paul Isabella.
"We will remain aggressive on the M&A front as well as fund our internal growth initiatives, while still managing to reach our 2018 targeted leverage ratio," Isabella said on an earnings call with analysts this week.
Isabella called fiscal 2016 a "landmark year" that started with a bang when the company acquired Roofing Supply Group, Dallas, TX, last July from investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $1.1 billion.
RSG had 83 locations in 24 states and was Beacon's first expansion into the Pacific Northwest. Since then, Beacon has also added Woodfeathers Inc., which brought the company into Oregon.
The company complemented acquisitions in new geographies – Colorado and Michigan, in addition to the Northwest – by expanding its "product diversity" and opening new locales, Isabella said.
"This expansion will continue as we look to strengthen various markets across the country," he said. "And as we’ve said in the past, we will continue to open greenfields. We have already opened one this year."
But the RSG acquisition is what really fueled Beacon's growth in 2016 and put the company in prime position to move up at least one spot on the list of the Top 10 Building Materials & Construction Distributors next year.
"We were able to take two very large organizations and effectively combined them to form a much stronger company, as you can see from the results," Isabella said.
