Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Announces the Sale of Moore’s Lumber & Building Supplies, Inc.

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (“BGL”) is pleased to announce that Moore’s Lumber and Building Supplies, Inc. (“Moore’s” or the “Company”), a leading mid-Atlantic regional wholesale supplier of high quality building materials to professional builders and contractors, has been sold to The Strober Organization, Inc. (“Strober”), a leading super-regional supplier of similar products and services. BGL served as exclusive financial advisor and selling agent for Moore’s.

In addition, BGL advised Moore’s in completing a contemporaneous sale/leaseback transaction covering several of Moore’s distribution center properties, which helped maximize the total value received by Moore’s owners. Terms of the two transactions were not disclosed.

Moore’s, based in Roanoke, Virginia, is among the top 25 suppliers of lumber and related building material component products in the United States. Moore’s sells its products and services primarily to residential and commercial building professionals and repair and remodeling contractors. The Company currently operates 19 distribution centers, three of which also engage in the value-added assembly of pre-hung door units.

The Strober Organization acquired all of the stock in Moore’s from its owners, Watermill Ventures and Rooney Holdings, Inc., two private investment companies that joined forces in 1997 to purchase the Company from Harrisons & Crosfields, plc. Combined, the owners used their operational and financial expertise to reposition the Company from a retail home center business with over 50 outlets into a leading, rapidly growing and highly profitable wholesale distributor of building materials servicing almost exclusively the professional builder and contractor trade.

In marketing the Company, BGL targeted a group of strategic and financial buyers with relevant industry knowledge and interest. The Company attracted a high level of interest due to its impressive financial results, strong regional market presence, and excellent growth prospects. Though financial buyers showed considerable interest in the business, they were unable to match the values offered by strategic buyers.

In addition to offering the highest valuation, Strober distinguished itself by its commitment to growth, its shared focus on the professional builder and contractor market, and by the excellent cultural and geographic fit with Moore’s. Further, Strober had demonstrated recent success in integrating its acquisition of The Contractor Yard, formerly owned by the Lowe’s Corporation.

“The acquisition of Moore’s Lumber introduces Strober’s presence into several additional communities in Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, New York and Ohio,” said Strober Chairman and CEO Fred Marino. “The Strober Organization has aggressive growth objectives and this acquisition further positions the company to achieve these goals.”

BGL Senior Managing Director and Principal, Scott Lang, commented, “This transaction marks the successful outcome of several years of hard work that our clients devoted to repositioning Moore’s into a leading regional wholesale supplier of building materials and services to the trade. The success of this transaction also underscores the excellent cultural and business fit between buyer and seller and the exciting growth opportunities they share.”

“Watermill Ventures and Rooney Holdings are extremely proud of the results achieved by Moore’s, and we are equally pleased that the many loyal and productive people of Moore’s have found a great new home with The Strober Organization,” said Steve Karol, Managing Partner of Watermill Ventures. “We are grateful for the expert assistance we received from our financial advisor at Brown Gibbons Lang & Company, who did a tremendous job.”