Close · Building Products

Representation & Warranty Insurance for Building Products Independent Sponsors

When the deal is building products and the question is Representation & Warranty Insurance, the structure decisions in the first 30 days outlast the next five years. This is where Jason Powell works.

EV range $10M to $150M EV EBITDA $2.5M to $25M Audience Buy-side / Sponsor
The deal context

An independent sponsor closing building products transactions in the $10M to $150M EV range has a defined set of moves at the Representation & Warranty Insurance stage. Most of them are not in a generic M&A textbook.

The typical building products platform sits at $10M to $150M EV with EBITDA in the $2.5M to $25M range. The thesis runs on regional manufacturer or specialty distributor consolidation. Pricing power lives in dealer contracts, not in branding. Read the dealer agreements before the LOI.

The moves

How Representation & Warranty Insurance actually gets structured.

  1. Get to non-binding indication within two weeks of LOI sign, with carrier diligence to follow.

  2. Negotiate retention to 0.5 percent of EV, dropping to 0.25 percent after 12 months.

  3. Confirm policy follows form on the purchase agreement, not the other way around.

  4. Carve out tax indemnities and known liabilities, priced separately if needed.

  5. In building products, layer in raw-material pass-through clauses confirmed as part of the Representation & Warranty Insurance workstream.

The common mistake

Treating R&W as a commodity. Carrier appetite varies sharply by industry and deal size.

Jason's take
"R&W is no longer optional on most independent sponsor deals over $20M. Price it into the LOI."
Jason Powell · Representation & Warranty Insurance
Capital after close

The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.

After close, the call list for refinancing, recapitalization, and growth equity gets short and known. Jason carries that list.

MONTH 18
Senior refi
MONTH 24
Dividend recap
MONTH 36
Growth equity
YEAR 4–5
Strategic exit
ENGAGE THE PRACTICE

Representation & Warranty Insurance for Building Products, on independent sponsor terms.

Independent sponsor counsel that already speaks fluent deal-by-deal economics, structures clean LPAs, and travels with capital markets relationships for what comes after close.