
Hardwoods Distribution Inc. of Langley, British Columbia, announced late July 18 it has completed the acquisition of virtually all the assets of Rugby Architectural Building Products, a Concord, N.H.-based firm that bills itself as "America's leading distributor" of architectural wood products, decorative surfacing, doors, and millwork.
Hardwoods said it will pay at least US$107 million for Rugby, plus potentially another US$13 million based on Rugby's future performance. Hardwoods bought Rugby from Leading Ridge Capital Partners, a private equity firm.
"With the completion of the acquisition, Hardwoods is now North America's largest distributor of hardwood lumber, panel and interior architectural building materials, with a coast-to-coast U.S. presence and significantly increased access to commercial end-markets," Robert Brown, Hardwood's president and CEO, said in a press release. According to Leading Ridge, Rugby has nearly $300 million in sales and 560 employees. Despite having a New England home office, most of its operations are mainly in the Sunbelt (see map, top left) Hardwoods covers 20 states and six Canadian provinces; and most of its U.S. operations are in northern half of the country. (See map, below right)

Hardwoods paid for Rugby through a combination of the sale of new shares and the taking on of new senior debt obligations.
Leading Ridge began its investment in Rugby in 2011, and since then Rugby has engaged in at least 16 acquisitions.