What do these mind-blowing figures have in common: $10.6 billion, $5.5 billion, $8.8 billion, $8.75 billion?

Besides each one being in the billions with a "b", they were the amounts agreed upon for industry-shaping acquisitions made in the past year. Whether it was long-time companies acquired by newcomers or some of the biggest names in the construction market coming together, these deals will forever change the industry. If the ongoing private equity activity in the roofing industry is any indication, we can expect more blockbuster deals to take place in the coming year. 

QXO Shows the Power of Tech in Distribution

One of the most-watched deals from the past year was QXO’s acquisition of Beacon Building Products. The back-and-forth nature of the acquisition, with Beacon’s board advising shareholders against QXO’s unsolicited $10.6 billion offer, lasted for months. As QXO pursued hostile takeover tactics, by the end of March 2025, the companies came to an agreement and QXO completed its all-cash transaction.

QXO CEO Brad Jacobs brings a proven track record of assembling Fortune 500-scale businesses through roll-ups in fragmented industries, such as equipment rental. This strategy includes lightning-fast rebranding, systems unification, and transparent communications. A core tenet of that is technology adoption. Roofing, in general, lags in integrating the latest innovations. But Jacobs and his team have infused QXO with AI-enhanced tech that has enabled them to identify $200 million in pricing leakage.

“Technology will be central to driving an experience that delights our customers, and our employee base loves to please them,” Jacobs said in a Q&A last June. “Happy customer, happy salesperson. And tech—tech is their friend. Everyone is adopting tech in their personal lives. They’re hungry for this.” 

For instance, QXO has adopted dynamic pricing engines that adjust in real-time based on elasticity curves and customer-level profitability. Jacobs said AgenticAI helps sales teams prioritize leads and optimize margins, while a next‑gen data lake and ERP layer drive live P&L dashboards.

Related: How QXO Will Transform Roofing: Brad Jacobs $11B Merger Playbook

“We rebalanced SKUs, focusing on the 4% of SKUs that drive 80% of our sales and our in-stock rates are improving,” Jacobs said last June.

The latest data available at the time of publication showed QXO earned $2.73 billion in net sales for its third quarter. Jacobs hinted at more acquisition activity for the company in the future. “We’re making excellent progress optimizing Beacon and continue to find new avenues for growth,” Jacobs said. “We outperformed the market this quarter and are firmly on track to organically grow legacy Beacon’s EBITDA to more than $2 billion. “This momentum, combined with a very robust acquisition pipeline, primes us to reach $50 billion in annual revenue within a decade.”

Home Depot Brings on SRS, GMS 

SRS Distribution received a major boost when The Home Depot acquired the distributor for $18.25 billion in June 2024. Since then, the big‑box retailer has reported positive developments in its earnings reports from SRS’ operations. 

Dan Tinker, CEO and president of SRS Distribution, said they’ve already integrated with Home Depot, not only by extending trade credits to Home Depot customers but also giving customers the ability to charge their SRS account at Home Depot stores. 

“So we become much more attractive to our suppliers, because now we can take hundreds of truckloads via rail service to different DCs that we could have never done as GMS or SRS standalone,” he said. “All of that is borne by the retail side, so it’s like a standalone massive, internally owned two‑step distribution network that we can leverage.” 

Nearly a year after the acquisition, The Home Depot sought its next acquisition when, through SRS Distribution, it placed a $5.5 billion bid to acquire Gypsum Management and Supply (GMS) Inc., one of North America’s largest specialty distributors of interior construction products.  

The proposal came not long after newcomer QXO placed an unsolicited bid to pay $95.20 per share, or about $5 billion in cash. 

In September 2025, the Home Depot completed the acquisition. The deal expands SRS’ operations with 1,200 locations, increases its sales force to more than 3,500 associates, and creates a nearly 8,000‑truck fleet. 

Tinker characterized GMS’ integration as “very light” and that SRS doesn’t want to “mess up their secret sauce,” though efforts will be made to optimize for Home Depot’s Pro services, such as implementing AI and CRMs. 

"First goal is don't mess them up,” Tinker said. “Second goal is make them faster and take all the things they had tied behind their back by being a … standalone public company, and make one plus one plus one equal four, not three, as you add Home Depot, SRS, and GMS together.” 

SRS Distribution has been developing and implementing its own AI‑powered solutions. In 2024, it built its Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence and has steadily released solutions for both customers and employees. 

Both SRS and GMS fall under the umbrella of Home Depot, and there will be national account teams that cross over to serve exterior and interior customers. Tinker said that they aren’t slowing down, either, though he specified that there are no plans to enter the manufacturing space. 

“It's unheard of for a company like Home Depot to buy two companies, two CEOs like us, and we're still here,” Tinker said. “You don't buy two mega companies, one $6 billion and one $10 billion, and the CEOs stick around and help the next chapter of the movie together.  “I always love the quote ‘There's no limit to what the company can do as long as we don'tcare who gets the credit’ … It is such a nice environment here that everybody's working towards one common goal.” 

JT Turner, president and CEO of GMS, said the company wasn’t small by any measure — $6 billion — but it wasn’t a massive, $200 billion operation either. He said there is a “balance sheet opportunity” to grow faster and become better for customers. 

“We're now part of an organization that has a dramatically larger portfolio of both products and relationships on the supplier side. So I would expect us to be able to greatly advance and improve our strategy and complementary products and move even faster,” he said.  

Lowe’s and James Hardie Make Moves 

Not to be outdone by Home Depot, Lowe’s announced its acquisition of Foundation Building Materials last August, purchasing the interior building products distributor for $8.8 billion.  

Much like Home Depot, the move serves to enhance its Pro customers through an expanded product assortment, faster fulfillment, improved digital tools and a robust trade credit platform. 

"Completing the acquisition of FBM is an important step in accelerating our Total Home strategy to serve large Pro customers within a $250 billion total addressable market. We would like to extend a warm welcome to the FBM team, and we look forward to building on their proven track record of profitable growth," said Marvin. R. Ellison, Lowe's chairman, president, and CEO.  

The acquisition grants Lowe’s the ability to expand its Pro footprint in markets like California, the Northeast and the Midwest.  

Lowe’s previously acquired Artisan Design Group for $1.3 billion last June. ADG is a nationwide provider of design, distribution and installation services for interior surface finishes to home builders and property managers. 

In late March 2025, James Hardie and the AZEK Company signed an agreement to merge their operations. The deal included James Hardie purchasing AZEK with a mix of cash and shares. The deal resulted in an $8.8 billion acquisition. 

The merger establishes a platform for exterior and outdoor living products, pairing up complementary products like siding, trim, railing and pergolas. 

“This combination with AZEK is an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate our growth strategy, deliver enhanced and differentiated solutions to our customers and drive shareholder value,” said James Hardie CEO Aaron Erter in a news release announcing the merger.  

The combined James Hardie‑AZEK operation increases its total addressable market in North America to $23 billion. However, investors were not pleased with the deal, with Chairwoman Anne Lloyd voted off the company’s board last October. 

“We recognize that we have more work to do to deliver on our promise to shareholders,” the company said in a written statement. “The Board is committed to holding both itself and the management team accountable as we execute our plans to drive outperformance over the long‑term.” 

What About Independents? 

Independents are maintaining their presence, whether through unique and regional marketing or joining forces with cooperatives like the Independent Distributor Alliance Corporation and NEMEON. Their strengths lie in their agility and hyper‑focus on their regions, but PE activity is quickly changing that. 

Division 7 Supply Owner Jeff Muratori, who serves as chairman of the NEMEON board of directors, called today’s market a “pie‑eating contest” where the big companies are getting bigger, and doesn’t see that pace slowing down. 

“It doesn’t matter how big you are, how small you are. If you’re public or private, you can get acquired,” he said. “It’ll be really interesting to see what happens in the next few years, but I think acquisition activity is going to continue at the distribution level. I think it's going to continue at the manufacturing level and at the contractor level.” 

He said given the number of independent distributors that have been acquired over the past few years, he has concerns about the industry, saying manufacturers are essentially dealing with three customers for the bulk of their business — referring to the “Big 3” of ABC Supply, SRS Distribution and QXO — which makes it harder for independents to compete. 

“It’s the decline of the independents, which weakens the manufacturer’s influence at the contractor level,” he said. 

Tim Bock, president of Illinois‑based Lakefront Roofing & Siding Supply and a member of the NEMEON board, said earlier this year that it can be difficult to contend with larger companies, but cooperatives help independents stay connected and competitive. 

“The biggest thing that we probably have been able to say to everybody is that we're owner/operators, we are not salespeople that just are doing it for a paycheck, this is our livelihood,” he said. “We are people who really care as much as we can.” 

IDAC Executive Director Curt Gomes said the cooperative remains robust in this private equity storm, with its membership steadily growing. He said there are pros and cons to the acquisition activity, but at the end of the day, independents are representing their customers. 

“I think that the benefit that IDAC members have, and the sizes of their organizations, is they’re more nimble and they’re generally closer to the customer at the ownership and leadership level,” he said.  

When it comes to technology that advances distribution, Gomes said IDAC has tested and implemented platforms but has also done its due diligence to not adopt technology unless it’s ultimately serving the customer. 

“I think the industry is still trying to figure out what makes sense to the manufacturer, to thedistributor, and to the contractor,” he said. “And the other thing is, it’s not a one‑size‑fits‑all issue. 

“At the end of the day, it’s still a relationship business, and I don’t think technology can displace that importance.”