In its largest acquisition ever, The Home Depot Inc. will acquire SRS Distributors for approximately $18.25 billion.

Home Depot is betting that the retailer’s future business is tied to professional contractors and B2B digital commerce.

SRS has a 2,500-plus professional sales force, 760-plus branch network across 47 states, 4,000-plus truck fleet and jobsite delivery capabilities. They will enable The Home Depot to extend its offering to residential specialty trade pros while better serving renovator/remodelers, the retailer says.

Home Depot ranks No. 4 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database of the largest online retailers in North America. It’s also the top-ranking retailer in the Top 1000’s Hardware & Home Improvement category.

The Home Depot and SRS Distribution acquisition

SRS Distribution Inc. is a residential specialty trade distribution company across several verticals serving professional roofer, landscaper, and pool contractors.

“Our team is thrilled to join The Home Depot,” says SRS Distribution CEO Dan Tinker. “We are looking forward to combining our differentiated assets and capabilities, including our extensive branch network, experienced sales team, robust trade credit offering, and order management system, geared at serving the complex project purchase occasion, with The Home Depot’s competitive advantages. We believe this will enable us to serve pros better and continue growing in our large and highly fragmented market.”

Home Depot’s appeal to contractors

The deal for Home Depot’s acquisition of SRS Distribution is expected to close this year. With the acquisition, The Home Depot says it’s making a major move in the professional contractor market.

“The Home Depot now believes its total addressable market is approximately $1 trillion, an increase of approximately $50 billion,” the retailer says.

When the deal is complete, digital commerce will be a big part of how the combined company will sell products to contractors.

“For the complex Pro opportunity, this means that by the end of 2024, we will have 17 of our top Pro markets equipped with new fulfillment options, localized product assortment, and expanded sales force and enhanced digital capabilities with trade credit and order management in pilot for development,” Home Depot CEO Ted Decker recently told analysts on the company’s year-end earnings call.

Home Depot’s other recent B2B moves

To boost sales to its professional customers, Home Depot acquired Construction Resources in December. Construction Resources is a distributor for design-oriented surfaces, appliances and architectural specialty products.

The retailer also has plans to develop “new order-management capabilities to better manage complex Pro orders,” Decker said. “For the complex Pro opportunity, this means that by the end of 2024, we will have 17 of our top Pro markets equipped with new fulfillment options, localized product assortment and expanded sales force and enhanced digital capabilities with trade credit and order management in pilot for development.”

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.