(Nov. 5) A new player has entered the pro dealer arena by acquiring a string of lumberyards that once belonged to Stock Building Supply. Called US LBM Holdings, the newly formed private equity partnership will soon own lumberyards in three states, all of which will revert back to their original trade names. They are Wisconsin Building Supply in Green Bay, Wis.; Bellevue Builders Supply in Schenectady, N.Y.; and East Haven Builders Supply in East Haven, Conn.

US LBM Holdings was formed when Building Industry Partners, a private equity firm focused on the construction and building materials sector, teamed up with Black Eagle Partners, a private equity firm that invests in underperforming and distressed businesses. L.T. Gibson, a former Stock executive who is also investing in the venture, will serve as president and CEO of US LBM Holdings.

Each lumberyard will be run independently by a former owner or manager who is also an investor in the business. “We have the depth and experience to offer help, insight and guidance in any area, but having a national corporate culture or identity is not ... our goal,” Gibson told Home Channel News. He added that the holding company is “not targeting the national builders.”

Until last August, Gibson served as VP of the North Central division at Stock, overseeing the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Texas markets. He integrated multiple acquisitions at Stock, including Kempsville Building Materials, Universal Supply, Fairfax Lumber, Wilson Brothers, Virginia Lumber and Denlinger Building Materials.  

In an interview with Home Channel News, Matt Ogden, managing principal of Building Industry Partners, said the new equity firm will have some oversight of the businesses and a hand in its management. But the Green Bay, Wis.-based firm wants to keep its lumberyards “highly autonomous.”

“[Our] operating thesis is that the pro dealer business is at its core a local business,” Ogden said. “US LBM is attempting to create a business model [where] local operators build their business and tailor their services as local customers dictate.”

US LBM also sees itself providing IT, HR and other back office support to its individual operations. “We have the depth and experience to offer help, insight and guidance in any area,” Gibson said. Adding to the collective expertise is Lonnie Schield, a former Stock executive who co-founded Building Industry Partners and still serves as a managing principal. Schield was president of Terry Lumber, a 14-unit chain of California lumberyards purchased by Stock in 2000.