Beacon Roofing agrees to $11 billion QXO buyout, ending takeover battle

(Reuters) - Beacon Roofing Supply ( BECN ) has agreed to an $11 billion buyout offer from billionaire Brad Jacobs' firm QXO, weeks after it rejected a marginally lower bid from the company and raised its defenses to prevent a hostile takeover.

The deal caps a months-long takeover saga and gives QXO, a new entrant in the building products distribution industry, a solid advantage with Beacon's expansive network of branches across the U.S. and Canada.

"Acquiring Beacon is a key milestone in our plan to create substantial shareholder value and establish QXO as a leader in the $800 billion building products distribution industry," said Brad Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer of QXO.

QXO has agreed to pay $124.35 per share in cash, the companies said on Thursday. The offer is only 10 cents higher than the previous bid of $124.25, which Beacon rejected in January, saying it "significantly undervalued" the company.

The deal likely became increasingly attractive to Beacon amid escalating macro uncertainty, Trey Grooms, analyst at Stephens, wrote in a note.

U.S. President Donald Trump's extensive import tariffs have increased uncertainty for businesses, consumers and investors, and have fueled concerns about an economic slowdown.

Shares of QXO were up 3%, while Beacon's shares rose 1.9%.

The company, which counts Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner as a board member, has already obtained anti-trust clearance in the United States and Canada to acquire Beacon.

QXO will be funding the deal with $5 billion in cash and financing commitments, covering the rest of the full purchase price, it said.

Earlier this week, QXO raised $830 million in private placement from institutional investors, contingent upon the deal with Beacon closing. It said it would sell about 67.5 million shares of its common stock at $12.30 per share.

QXO said in connection with the transaction, which is expected to close by April end, it has withdrawn its nomination of 10 independent director nominees for Beacon.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain, Anshuman Tripathy and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shinjini Ganguli)