ProBuild

Markets Served

ProBuild currently operates approximately 423 lumber and building product distributions, manufacturing and assembly centers serving 45 U.S. states.

Company History and Acquisitions

In 1997, Fidelity Capital, the business development arm of Fidelity Investments, acquired the Strober Organization, a supplier of building materials to professional builders and contractors in the Northeast. Over the next nine years, Strober acquired additional regional brands, extending its reach to the mid-Atlantic and Southeast markets.

By 2005, Strober had become one of the largest professional building materials dealers in the United States. In 2008, Fidelity Capital purchased Lanoga Corporation, which was, at the time, the nation's third largest professional building materials dealer. Fidelity made the purchase through ProBuild Holdings, Inc., a newly created entity that included the Strober Organization. The Strober Organization was the sixth largest professional building materials dealer in the U.S. at the time. With the purchase of Lanoga, ProBuild's 2006 resources comprised over 420 locations in 38 states with more than 14,000 employees.

The subsequent acquisitions of Hope Lumber and Supply and other lumber suppliers made ProBuild the largest professional building materials dealer in the United States by 2007 with more than 506 locations nationwide.

Following the downturn of the housing market in the United States in 2008, ProBuild consolidated a number of facilities and exited several markets, including Chicago and Pittsburgh. As was the case with much of the home building industry, sales fell during the downturn. ProBuild reported just over $3 billion in sales in 2009, down from at 2006 peak of $6 billion. By 2013, the company reported a 9 percent increase in sales from the prior year.

Company Rankings

2006-2010 - ProBuild was ranked the largest professional-oriented lumber and building materials dealer in the nation by industry trade publication ProSales Magazine in the annual PROSALES 100. The PROSALES 100 is a list of the nation's top professional-oriented full-line lumberyards and specialty dealers ranked by the dollar value of their sales to pros. In 2005, with the acquisition of Lanoga Corp., ProBuild was created, making it the biggest full-service lumberyard in the nation and putting ProBuild at the top of the list for the next five years.

2011-2013 - Probuild was ranked No. 2 largest professional-oriented lumber and building materials dealer in the nation in the PROSALES 100 as a result of ABC Supply's acquisition in 2010 of former No. 4 ranked Bradco Supply. The deal enabled ABC Supply to take the top spot, with a 51.7 percent rise in overall sales in 2011 to $4.07 billion.

Probuild was acquired by Builders FirstSource, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLDR) on July 31, 2015.