The Concrete Ceiling
If you look at the building products sector, you might think the strategy is simple: Buy your competitor, cut overhead, and raise prices. That was the playbook for decades. But the 2026 report reveals that for many sub-sectors, that game is officially “Game Over.”
Take cement. In the US, the top six players now control nearly 70% of capacity. The regulator won’t let you buy any more rivals. This forces a radical shift from “Scale” (buying more of the same) to “Scope” (buying something different).
This explains why Lowe’s spent $8.8 billion on Foundation Building Materials. They aren’t trying to sell more hammers to dads on the weekend; they are buying a completely new distribution channel to reach the “Pro” customer. The insight here is that growth in mature industries is no longer about production (making stuff); it is about distribution (owning the route to the job site).
The “Bad Weather” Alibi
The industry is cyclical, and currently, demand is fragile. When earnings are down, every CEO blames the “market cycle.” But the report highlights a brutal diligence tactic to spot the liars.
Smart acquirers are looking for “missed moments of truth” - specifically, failed deliveries.
Think about it: If a target company is missing delivery windows when demand is low, they don’t have a cyclical problem; they have a structural one. If you can’t get logistics right when the factory is half-empty, you are broken. Winners use this metric to separate “cheap assets” from “value traps.”
The Penalty for Sitting Out
Finally, there is a stark warning for the cautious. In a cyclical downturn, the instinct is to wait. But the data shows that “frequent acquirers” in this sector generated 9.6% total shareholder returns, compared to just 2.7% for inactive companies.
Waiting for the “perfect time” is a losing strategy. The winners are buying through the dip, realizing that by the time the cycle turns and the “all clear” signal sounds, the best assets will already be gone - or twice as expensive.
Read the complete report from Bain here - M&A in Building Products: Making the Right Bets in a Cyclical Industry