Rolling up the "roll-up"Ambika Puniani Bailey
Back in the summer of 1998, General Roofing Industries caused
significant buzz when it became the first "roll-up" company in the
roofing industry with 19 member companies. Headquartered at the
time in Pompano Beach, Fla., the company was regarded by some as a
pioneer and others as a risky venture. And in fact, it was a little
of both.
Soon after General Roofing Industries formed, others followed,
all with the same idea-to form a national roofing company that
could capitalize on the synergies of multiple locations.
But during the next six years, General Roofing Industries faced
numerous obstacles at the corporate level. It changed its name to
General Roofing Services and then to generalRoofing. Its leadership
changed, as well—several times—and by 2004, the company
had landed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It then sold its controlling
interest to Republic Financial Corp., Aurora, Colo., closed most of
its 36 locations, settled its debt and emerged from bankruptcy in
October 2004. In July, another consolidation—Tecta America
Corp., Skokie, Ill.—purchased a majority of generalRoofing's
operating assets from Republic Financial, making Tecta America the
biggest roofing contracting company in the U.S. with 23 divisions,
47 locations and more than 3,000 employees. (For more information
about Tecta America, see "Tecta at a
glance," page 29.)
Two companies with the same goal followed two different
management paths, and one corporate structure proved to be
more...
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