Acquisitions put Beacon on top

When mom and pop retire, Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. senses opportunity.

Like many companies in the industry, Beacon -- founded in 1928 in Somerville -- was a local small business supplying roofers in the area with items such as shingles, slate, and flashing. In 1984, after it was purchased by Andrew Logie, it embarked on an aggressive nationwide expansion in time to catch the renovation boom, as aging homes and businesses required new roofs.

Beacon, now located in Peabody, owns 174 roofing supply centers in 34 states and Canada. Five companies were acquired across the country in 2006, including its first West Coast outpost.

Expansion through acquisition began in earnest in 1997, when Beacon received $50 million from a Chicago venture-capital firm. In 2003, Logie moved up to chairman and the company hired Robert Buck away from Cintas Corp., a uniform-supply firm in Cincinnati, to replace Logie as chief executive. Within five months, Buck led the company's public stock offering, which made Beacon the only publicly traded roofing supplier in the nation. Buck, 59, was named chairman in February, replacing Logie, who retired.

Buck says the company's acquisition strategy is simple: Buy a local supplier when the owner decides it's time to retire. Beacon retains the existing staff and company name but integrates the inventory and back-office operations.

"We only purchase well-run companies," Buck says.

KIMBERLY BLANTON