Origination

US LBM is the largest privately held distributor of specialty building materials in the United States. Founded in 2009 by CEO L.T. Gibson, the company was built on a vision to combine national scale with the local service, expertise, and strong customer partnerships that define regional distributors. When Bain Capital invested in 2020, the team shared Gibson’s vision to create the leading national platform. Against the backdrop of a nationwide housing shortage and drawing on our deep sector experience, we saw opportunities for distributors like US LBM to enhance efficiency and product delivery across the entire construction value chain.

Opportunity and investment

US LBM stood out as a fast-growing, well-managed platform with the scale and leadership mettle to consolidate a fragmented market. The company’s proven acquisition capabilities and deep partnerships with suppliers and customers provided a solid foundation for continued expansion. Leveraging its experience in building products and industrials, Bain Capital worked to strengthen operations, enhance procurement and technology systems, and accelerate growth to meet rising demand in housing and renovation markets.

Value creation

Since our 2020 investment and 2023 reinvestment, we have partnered with L.T. Gibson and his team to drive growth and operational excellence. Together, we have invested in engineered components, platform services, and digital tools to improve efficiency, support a “whole home” offering, and elevate the customer experience.

US LBM has expanded nationwide, completing more than 40 acquisitions and more than doubling in size. The company’s sophisticated procurement programs, technology infrastructure, and diverse product offerings, paired with its entrepreneurial culture, enable new acquisitions to improve operations and accelerate growth. Today, US LBM is positioned to meet America’s housing needs by efficiently delivering sustainable and innovative materials and solutions nationwide.

“Bain Capital helped us focus on a few strategic priorities and execute them really well: systems and data, turbocharging acquisitions, and building the integration muscle. This has allowed us to build our national presence on a strong, integrated foundation that now enables us to move faster and better serve our customers.”¹These endorsements are provided by certain CEOs and or founders of investments held by certain investment vehicles advised by Bain Capital affiliate investment advisers. None of these CEOs and or founders were directly compensated for providing these endorsements, however, the funds have made investments into such CEOs and or founders’ companies. As a result of this investment, a conflict of interest exists because the CEOs and or founders have an incentive to make positive statements about Bain Capital and their experiences with Bain Capital to maintain the goodwill with Bain Capital.

L.T. Gibson / President and CEO / US LBM

“Our investment in US LBM is a great example of combining deep thematic expertise with hands-on capabilities to meaningfully accelerate a company’s trajectory operationally and financially. It’s been so exciting to partner with LT and the rest of US LBM on this journey of rapid growth and improvement.”

Stephen Thomas / Partner / Bain Capital