ACS American Construction Source (ACS), a portfolio company of Angeles Equity and Clearlake Capital, has acquired Contractor’s Truss Systems (CTS).

CTS is a provider of structural building components used in residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial buildings. The company was founded in 1993 by Kent Newman and Teresa Newman and has a 40,000 square foot manufacturing facility and headquarters in Cotter, AR.

ACS is a distributor of lumber and building materials to home builders; repair and remodel contractors; and do-it-yourself consumers. The company is headquartered in Springfield, MO and has more than 70 locations in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, and Wisconsin.

The acquisition of CTS is the fifth by ACS in the past 11 months. Angeles Equity and Clearlake formed ACS in September 2018 as part of their acquisition of Meek’s Lumber. Meek’s is one of the largest nationally ranked independent building products and hardware distributors in the US with more than 40 facilities in Arkansas, Missouri, California and Nevada. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Springfield, MO.

The other three acquisitions were the buys of sister companies Edwards Building Center and Breckenridge Building Center that provide lumber and building materials to customers in Colorado (October 2018);  Arrow Building Center (also known as Consolidated Lumber Company), one of the largest nationally ranked independent building products distributors in the country (November 2018). Stillwater, MN-based Arrow operates 16 full-service lumberyards, specialty divisions, and a component manufacturing plant and serves customers in Minnesota and Wisconsin; and Freeborn Lumber Company, an Albert Lea, MN-based provider of lumber and building products to customers in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa (June 2019).

The buy of CTS will allow ACS to expand its component manufacturing capacity. Component manufacturing enables builders and contractors to mitigate labor shortages and better meet construction deadlines by using pre-built wall panels, floor trusses and roof trusses. “Contractor’s Truss Systems joins our other component manufacturing facilities in California, Missouri, and Wisconsin to help our customers complete construction projects on time and under budget,” said ACS CEO James Drexinger.

Angeles Equity makes control investments in companies with enterprise values up to $200 million that have headquarters and primary operations in the United States and Canada. Sectors of interest include aerospace, automotive, building products, capital goods, chemicals, electronics, manufacturing, metals, transportation and logistics, packaging and distribution. In January 2017, the Los Angeles-based firm closed Angeles Equity Partners I LP with $360 million in capital.

Clearlake has over $9 billion of assets under management and invests in the industrials and energy; software and technology-enabled services; and consumer sectors. In March 2018, Clearlake closed Clearlake Capital Partners V LP with over $3.6 billion in commitments. Fund V exceeded its target and was substantially oversubscribed, reaching its hard cap. The Santa Monica, CA-based firm was co-founded by José Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali in 2006.

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | September 5, 2019

  lumber and building materials