RedBuilt

Corporate carveout, Turnaround

Sectors: Building Materials, Engineered Solutions, Wood Products, Manufacturing

 

Company

  • Founded in 1960 as Trus Joist International, Inc., the company has been the innovator in the use of engineered wood products.

  • Serves the light commercial and high-density housing markets with custom-designed roof trusses, floor joists, and wall panels.

Opportunity

  • RedBuilt was operating as Trus Joist Commercial, a division of the Weyerhaeuser Company.

  • Weyerhaeuser sought to divest of the division, but experienced challenges with the sale process and was on the verge of electing to shut it down.

  • Through continued dialogue and negotiation, we were able to convince Weyerhaeuser’s senior management that an asset transfer was a superior alternative to liquidating the business.

Investment Thesis

  • The division had an excellent reputation in the markets it served.

  • The management team and the division’s associates were highly capable and committed to the business.

  • We believed that RedBuilt could operate at positive cash flow and thrive as a private, standalone company.

Execution

  • RedBuilt did not acquire the “Trus Joist” brand, which was retained by Weyerhaeuser. A re-branding and re-introduction to the market was critical.

  • RedBuilt needed to transition from a small division of a large corporation to a standalone business.  Responsibility for IT, payroll, treasury, insurance, and human resources all needed to be put in place post-transaction.

  • Cost-saving measures, conservative capitalization, and investment in key resources permitted the company to absorb initial losses and build a sustainable enterprise.

Outcome

  • RedBuilt has become a sustainable and valuable organization, having achieved world-class safety performance and record profitability.