(Bloomberg) -- BuildDirect, an online seller of building supplies, is seeking raise more than $50 million in new investment through a private placement, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Vancouver-based company has hired Morgan Stanley to lead the sale, said the people who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The company, which has a valuation of about $500 million, is hoping to attract interest from several home-building firms looking to expand their online offerings, including Lowe's Cos, Home Depot Inc., as well as venture capital and private equity firms, said the people.
BuildDirect.com Technologies Inc. started off as a consumer-focused, Amazon-like marketplace focusing on home-construction supplies like carpeting, tiles and counter tops. It's since opened up its technology platform to allow manufacturers like Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Armstrong Flooring Inc. to use it to organize shipments. Last month, it expanded further, letting anyone who needs to ship heavy items use its technology platform.
BuildDirect has put together a network of warehouses and shipping companies that lets it find the most efficient ways to ship large, heavy items, such as a pallet of floor tiles or a stack of counter tops, in contrast to Amazon which focuses on smaller items like books and electronics. Companies which use its platform, which is focused on North America, can see what kind of demand different products have, helping them predict how much to produce and ship.
The company has raised about $120 million in capital in several funding rounds over the past five years and existing investors include Silicon Valley-based Mohr Davidow Ventures and Toronto's OMERS Ventures, an arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
Representatives for BuildDirect and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Deveau in Toronto at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net, Gerrit De Vynck in Toronto at gdevynck@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net, Jacqueline Thorpe
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