Tucker, Ga.-based GMS Inc., a supplier of gypsum wall board, has completed a $627 million acquisition of a Toronto-based competitor.
The closing of the previously announced deal to acquire WSB Titan creates consolidated North American wall board distributor with about $3 billion in revenues and 240 branches in 42 states and five Canadian provinces.
GMS completed the deal this week as Georgia officials participated in the Southeast U.S.-Canadian Provinces Alliance conference this week in Mobile, Ala. The June 3-6 conference aims to foster cross-border investment and trade. This year’s event includes a strong contingent of anchor companies in the aerospace and automotive sectors, as well as technology and energy. Ontario, where Toronto sits, is a member province of the alliance.
The acquisition also takes place amid a tense time for trade relations between the U.S. and Canada, with the U.S. imposing steel tariffs on its ally this month, just as the two tried to hammer out a NAFTA deal. Canada has promised retaliation, with tariffs on a variety of products slated to begin July 1.
A flurry of major Canada deals have come to fruition in Georgia in the last year, from Irving Consumer Products’ planned $400 million factory in Macon to a $105 million greenhouse operated by Pure Hothouse Foods — also based in Ontario. Atlanta-based Fleetcor was also recognized recently for a nearly $700 million deal to acquire a Canadian cross-border payments provider.
Titan will operate as a subsidiary of GMS and will be led by the president of GMS Canada, Doug Skrepnek.
GMS funded the transaction through a subsidiary, GYP Holdings III Corp., by refinancing a $572 million loan facility into a $997 million facility with a slightly better interest rate, according to a news release. The loan comes due in 2025.
