Southern-based Independent Builders Merchant Group has secured funds to continue its expansion.

The £650m turnover builders’ merchant has secured new capital investment from Ares Management and Farallon Capital to advance its strategic growth plans.

Martin Stables, IBMG’s CEO, said that during 2024, IBMG would be launching new customer propositions covering renewables and sustainability.

He said the business would also look to expand its independent brand network through new branches and M&A where strategically appropriate.

“For strong well-run platforms such as IBMG, with plenty of available capital, the opportunity for growth is clear, while elsewhere in the sector, the focus is on reducing costs, restructuring or juggling with the cyclical house building market.

“The new funding partnership delivers additional capital for growth, providing IBMG with greater financial flexibility, allowing for continued investment.

“Looking to the second half of this year and beyond, medium-term macroeconomics look very favourable for our sector,” he said.

“Thanks to the extraordinary hard work by our teams, along with all our partners and stakeholders, we are well placed to deliver on the IBMG vision for even greater success.”

He added that the IBMG business model was special and unique in the sector.

“With five specialist divisions we can take any project from the ground to the roof ridge and ensure it’s supplied via an optimised supply chain minimising the miles travelled, ensuring efficient delivery for the specialised trades on site, without the need for multiple suppliers and the complexity and delays that can cause.

“At a project level this ensures that the end result is both sustainable and incredible value because IBMG helps to minimise wasted resources inherent in other supply chains.

“Our focus remains the ‘repair, maintenance and improvement’ trade customer where we will continue to enhance our product and service offerings and increase the efficiency of the merchant brands that customers trust.”