In the spring of 2014, TorQuest was introduced to the CEO and CFO of Watson Building Supplies (“Watson”), a Toronto-based gypsum supply dealer (“GSD”) and the founding member of the WSB Titan buying group. At the time, WSB Titan represented five separately owned GSDs in Canada’s largest population centers and constituted the largest drywall and insulation buying group in Canada.

TorQuest was approached by a mutual friend, who indicated that Watson’s management team (who were also partial owners of Watson) were looking to consolidate the ownership and operations of the various member companies who operated within the WSB Titan buying group. TorQuest worked with the Watson team over a two-year period to structure transactions with each of WSB Titan’s member companies, culminating in the formal consolidation of WSB Titan into a single company (“Titan”) and recapitalization of the shareholder group in April 2016. 

The transaction established Titan as the clear market leader within the GSD industry in Canada and positioned the Company to pursue an ambitious growth strategy in its core markets. During our ownership, we focused on simplifying Titan’s business structure, reducing the level of key-man risk in the business (through the establishment of national management team) and elevating Titan’s stature within the broader North American building products industry. The Company performed very well during this period, succeeding in capturing customer ​“share-of-wallet”, improving the operational performance of its locations outside of Ontario, green-fielding new locations and completing a highly synergistic add-on acquisition. 

The result was a robust growth in top line revenue and significant margin expansion, well ahead of our value creation plan. Following a formal sale process, TorQuest sold WSB Titan to GSM Inc. in 2018 for an excellent return for all stakeholders.