PE Rebuilding Interest in Building Products

A group of investors, led by Investcorp and Harvest Partners, have agreed to sell Associated Materials to Hellman & Friedman in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. Debt financing for the transaction is being provided by UBS and Deutsche Bank. Associated Materials was acquired by Harvest Partners, Weston Presidio and TGF Management in a 2002 public-to-private LBO for $362 million and was later recapitalized by Investcorp and National City Equity Partners in 2005. The company manufactures and distributes exterior residential building products.

72 companies in the Building Products industry have been involved in PE deals since the beginning of 2008, according to the PitchBook Platform. PE investors are rebuilding an interest in the industry after deal flow fell to 20 deals in 2009 from 36 in 2008. With over three months left in the year, 2010 has already racked up 19 completed deals, and another one is still under construction. In the industry, PE investors have invested in more Texan companies, 10, than companies from any other state. Texas has accounted for 16% of the deal count. Georgia and New York are other popular investing locations, each accounting for 8% of the total deals.