Acquisition Rings in New Year
January 07, 2010
Likely, the coming year will be a year of transition for the residential construction community. Near the end of last year, a number of residential building economic indicators improved—by minimal margins, but still taking that step in the right direction.
As this year began, residential construction technology experienced change, which could possibly indicate an interesting year ahead. On Monday, Constellation HomeBuilder Systems, www.constellationhb.com, Markham, Ont., announced the acquisition of Builder1440, www.builder1440.com, Baltimore, Md.
The acquisition will include the Web-based sales and CRM (customer-relationship management) products from Builder1440, such as Sales1440, and the staff and solutions of Builder1440’s parent company G.1440, www.g1440.com.
What does M&A (merger and acquisition) activity in general mean for the residential building community? Some technology providers voice their thoughts about what M&A activity means for the industry.
“I think in times such as these, you will see more and more of this type of activity; as companies try to find ways to reduce costs and enter new markets,” says Daryl Shenner, president, HomeFront Software, www.homefront-software.com, Calgary, Alta. “I don’t know what the overall effect on the market will be however.”
Tom Gebes, president, BuilderMT, www.buildermt.com, Lakewood, Colo., adds, “Whether something is good (or) bad for the client (or) customer all depends on the intention of the acquiring company. If the acquiring company wants to ‘park’ the software, freeze the code, not add enhancements, and just live off the support and maintenance payments, the customers will suffer. So you have to ask: What has been the track record of the acquiring company?”
With this specific acquisition, some questions may be crossing builders’ minds, such as: Will this affect the capabilities and support of Builder1440’s products, and will it change integration capabilities with other competing software platforms.
According to Constellation, it will continue to provide solutions, services, and support to Builder1440’s customers. Dexter Salna, president, Constellation HomeBuilder Systems, points to the company’s history of bringing two competing products together and making them work successfully (i.e. the FAST and NEWSTAR acquisitions). Constellation also plans to continue to support and enhance the software integration capabilities in Sales1440.
Just over a year ago, Builder1440 and HomeFront announced a partnership to integrate their respective technologies. Builder1440 also has multiple partnerships with other technology vendors such as BuilderMT, among others.
“We’ve enjoyed working with Builder1440 in the past, and even with the acquisition, we haven’t seen any indications that would change that,” says Shenner.
Gebes adds, “From our side of things, from what we control, BuilderMT will continue to support the integration between B1440 and BuilderMT’s WMS (Workflow Management Suite) for all of our clients. We are committed to our clients, and if that means supporting the integration of a sales system owned by a competitor, then you’ll see us do the honorable thing.”
Time is really the main factor that will ultimately show how this acquisition will impact the residential construction industry. While this acquisition is just one of the first pieces of news in the New Year, it will be interesting to see what will happen to the residential construction technology market in the year ahead.