QXO, a Connecticut-based building-products distributor led by Brad Jacobs, has made an offer to acquire Beacon Roofing Supply, the largest publicly traded distributor of roofing and complementary building materials in the U.S. and Canada, WSJ reported. Beacon, headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, has a market value of approximately $6.2 billion, with its share price up 14% this year. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, though negotiations remain uncertain.
QXO, which recently transitioned into the building-products space after raising over $4 billion in private placements, is valued at $6.5 billion. Founded by Jacobs, who has a history of scaling companies through acquisitions, the company is leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to disrupt the $800 billion building materials distribution industry.
Jacobs has emphasized a technology-first approach to modernizing the fragmented building materials market. QXO recently appointed Ashwin Rao, an artificial intelligence expert, as its chief AI officer to lead innovations in inventory management and demand forecasting. Rao’s plans include establishing a Silicon Valley office and assembling an AI team to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience.
The industry’s reluctance to adopt technology due to traditional sales methods, like phone and fax transactions, presents an opportunity for QXO to differentiate itself. Other companies, such as Ferguson Enterprises, have begun implementing advanced AI-driven systems, indicating a gradual shift toward modernization.
This bid for Beacon Roofing marks QXO's first significant move in building materials distribution, following its broader strategy to achieve $50 billion in revenue over the next decade. Previously, Jacobs applied a similar acquisition-driven model to transportation and logistics company XPO, which was later spun off into three publicly traded entities.
