Sunbelt Business Advisors served as the exclusive financial advisor to Material Distributors, Inc. (MDI), a wholesale distributor of building materials based in Marshall, Minnesota, in connection with a sale of the Company to Amerhart. MDI’s primary service areas are Southwest and Central Minnesota, Eastern South Dakota, and Northwest Iowa. The transaction closed on December 30. The acquisition strengthens Amerhart’s presence in the Midwest, allowing it to better serve its regional and national customers with a broad assortment of building materials.

“In addition to being known for exceptional customer service, MDI’s team-oriented culture is very similar to ours, making this a perfect opportunity for continued expansion. Amerhart has a strong presence in the Midwest and with this new acquisition,” said Amerhart CEO Mark Kasper. “We become more relevant to our regional and national customers and vendor partners, which is critical to our continued success.”

“As we looked to transition MDI to new ownership, we wanted to find a partner that matched our values,” said Juli and Steve Sanders of MDI. “With its Midwest roots and emphasis on integrity and teamwork, we believe Amerhart will continue to build on MDI’s legacy of working hard, doing what is right, and being good to our co-workers, customers, and suppliers.”

In tandem with the acquisition, Amerhart has created a Western Region, comprised of MDI (Amerhart—Marshall) and Amerhart’s existing West Salem, Wisconsin, location. The region will be led by Tim Stoeffler, longtime manager of Amerhart—West Salem. The leadership duties in Marshall will be split between Lori Johnson, an experienced MDI team member, as business manager and Bob Bullerman, current assistant manager at Amerhart—West Salem, as sales manager.

Sunbelt initiated, structured, and negotiated the transaction on behalf of MDI. The deal team was led by M&A Advisor Mike Slater and M&A Associate Kirill Graminschi.

“The transaction is a great result for MDI’s shareholders as it provides the right partner for this important shareholders’ liquidity event,” said Slater. “MDI will provide significant scale to the already-existing Amerhart multi-state operation. In addition to scale, MDI will also add significant resources, access, and product offerings into key additional end markets. COVID-19 did not get in the way of the transaction, which goes to show that there are optimal buyers for solid, well-run businesses. For us, it all came down to picking the right one and, in that regard, I would say, ‘mission accomplished.’”