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Founder / Operator·Building Products

Ruben Mendoza

Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Lowe's (acquired Foundation Building Materials)

Orange County, California, USA

RM
Why they matter

Built a building-products distributor from one branch to an $8.8B Lowe's exit, and knows firsthand how PE sponsors and strategics evaluate roll-ups in the space.

Background

Ruben Mendoza founded Foundation Building Materials (FBM) in Orange, California on March 1, 2011 with co-founders John Gorey and Tom Fischbeck, growing it from a single branch into one of North America's largest distributors of drywall, metal framing, ceiling systems, and interior building products. Before FBM, he spent 20 years at Acoustical Material Services (AMS), a wallboard and ceiling-systems distributor, rising from salesman (1991) to CEO (2003-2007). He took FBM public on the NYSE in 2017, brought in American Securities and later CD&R as PE partners, and sold the company to Lowe's for $8.8 billion in 2025, staying on as EVP and President of FBM within Lowe's.

Notable deals

  • 2011
    Co-founded Foundation Building Materials with a single Orange, CA branch and $4M in seed capital
  • 2017
    Led FBM's $179M IPO on the NYSE, pricing 12.8M shares at $14.00 under ticker FBM
  • 2024
    Brought in Clayton, Dubilier & Rice as an investment partner alongside American Securities in FBM
  • 2025
    Sold FBM to Lowe's Companies in an $8.8 billion transaction, joining Lowe's as EVP

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Founded Foundation Building Materials (FBM) in 2011 in Orange, CA after 20 years at Acoustical Material Services (AMS), a wallboard/ceiling-systems distributor he ran as CEO from 2003-2007.
  • Took FBM from a single branch to $1B+ in sales within four years via aggressive greenfield and M&A-driven expansion; grew the platform to 370+ locations across the U.S. and Canada.
  • Guided FBM through two ownership transitions as a public company (NYSE IPO, 2017) and two rounds of PE sponsorship (American Securities, then CD&R as co-investor in 2024) before the $8.8B sale to Lowe's in 2025.

Current focus

  • Now EVP and President of FBM within Lowe's, overseeing field and corporate operations and the Pro customer segment's growth strategy.

What he cares about

  • Building density and route-to-market economics in interior building products (drywall, metal framing, insulation, ceiling systems).
  • The "Pro" contractor customer as the primary growth vector.
  • Operator continuity — he stayed on post-acquisition rather than exiting, signaling strong alignment with Lowe's integration plans.

Recent moves

  • Closed the $8.8B FBM sale to Lowe's in October 2025 and immediately transitioned into a Lowe's executive role.

Potential sensitivities

  • Non-compete/employment terms with Lowe's likely restrict discussion of specific integration plans or competitive building-products distribution ventures.
  • May be constrained from commenting on prior sponsors' (American Securities, CD&R) economics or exit terms.

Questions to ask

  1. What made building-products distribution roll-ups attractive to PE sponsors across three separate ownership cycles (IPO, American Securities, CD&R)?
  2. How did FBM's acquisition playbook and integration cadence evolve between the 2011 founding and the 2025 Lowe's sale?
  3. What operational or cultural factors most influenced valuation and deal structure in the Lowe's transaction?

Outreach draft

Subject
Question on building-products distribution roll-ups
Hi Ruben, Congratulations on FBM's acquisition by Lowe's — building that platform from a single Orange County branch to an $8.8B outcome is a remarkable run. I work with a private equity team focused on building-products distribution, and we're studying how roll-up platforms scale through multiple ownership cycles (IPO, sponsor-backed growth, strategic exit). Your experience spans all three, and we'd value a short call to hear your perspective on what actually drives value creation and integration success in this space. Would you have 20-30 minutes in the coming weeks for a conversation? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Sources