Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (Nasdaq: BECN) (“Beacon” or the “Company”), the largest publicly traded distributor of roofing and complementary building products in North America, today announced that the Company has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Allied Building Products Corp. (“Allied”), one of the country’s largest exterior and interior building products distributors, from global diversified building products group CRH plc (LSE: CRH, ISE: CRG, NYSE: CRH) (“CRH”) for $2.625 billion in cash.

Beacon expects to finance the acquisition with approximately $2.2 billion of debt through an upsized ABL revolving credit facility, upsized term Loan B facility and new unsecured senior notes, and approximately $500 million of committed convertible preferred equity financing from an entity affiliated with the investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”), which in October 2015 sold Roofing Supply Group (“RSG”) to Beacon. The parties expect to consummate the transaction on or around January 2, 2018, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Founded in 1950, Allied is headquartered in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and distributes products across 208 locations in 31 states. These include exterior products, such as roofing, siding, windows and doors, and interior products, such as wallboard and suspended ceiling systems. The combination of Beacon and Allied will make Beacon one of the largest publicly traded wholesale building materials distributors in North America with pro forma revenues of approximately $7 billion and 593 branches in all 50 states and 6 provinces across Canada. Beacon will also become the fourth largest wallboard and acoustical ceiling tile wholesale distributor in the U.S., with more than $1 billion of revenue in the interior market segment. Beacon and Allied have more than 150 years of combined experience providing service excellence to customers in the building products industry.

The expanded geographic footprint will allow Beacon to enter new local markets, particularly in New York, New Jersey and the upper Midwest. In addition, acquiring Allied allows Beacon to further strengthen the company’s position as a leader in roofing products distribution, while accelerating growth in other key product categories, including siding, windows, doors, decking, trim, waterproofing, insulation and solar.

Robert R. Buck, Chairman of Beacon’s Board of  directors, emphasized the strategic rationale of the transaction and stated: “Allied is among the most established and respected companies in our industry, and we are proud that, through this acquisition, Beacon will become one of North America’s largest publicly traded building materials distributors and will operate locations in all 50 states. I want to thank CRH for entrusting Beacon with the future success of Allied and its dedicated employees, who have been part of the CRH family for more than 20 years. The Allied acquisition also presents a great opportunity for CD&R to again become a major shareholder in Beacon. Today is of great significance in Beacon’s history and for the future of building products distribution.”

Paul Isabella, Beacon’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “I would like to welcome the more than 3,500 employees from Allied to the Beacon family. We are thrilled to partner with such a loyal and dedicated workforce that shares our commitment to superior customer service and high levels of performance. We are also excited to become a significant player in the robust, growing and still-consolidating interior products market. Together, we will leverage the strengths of both companies, while remaining committed to preserving the deep customer relationships that we have each cultivated over 150 years of combined experience. This is a milestone moment in the long and successful histories of both companies.”

CD&R Partner Nathan Sleeper commented: “We are excited to participate in the strategic combination of these two industry leaders. We developed a strong confidence in the Beacon Roofing Supply management team during our prior ownership, as they successfully acquired and integrated RSG, and we welcome the opportunity to invest again in Beacon’s future growth and success. I look forward to rejoining Beacon’s Board of Directors and playing a supportive role as the Company realizes the significant value of this transaction.”

In a concurrent press release issued this morning by CRH, Albert Manifold, Chief Executive Officer of CRH, stated: “We are pleased that our long-standing Allied business is being acquired by a highly-respected industry player and we wish our colleagues every success as they enter this new phase of their development.”