Home Depot’s latest deal signals a strategic shift in M&A

Good morning. Retailer Home Depot has been in business for nearly 50 years, and its disciplined approach to dealmaking has contributed to its solid growth.

That’s the topic my colleague Phil Wahba explores in a new Fortune article. Home Depot, No. 24 on the Fortune 500, announced this week that one of its business units is acquiring building-products distributor GMS (Gypsum Management and Supply) for about $4.3 billion, prevailing in a bidding war. The deal follows Home Depot’s $18 billion acquisition last year of SRS Distribution (which is the entity actually buying GMS)—the largest acquisition in the company’s history.

According to Wahba, these acquisitions mark a shift in Home Depot’s strategy. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose just 0.2%, highlighting the need for change.

“Home Depot is widely viewed as one of the most successful retailers of the last 20 years, one that has deftly leveraged a hot housing market that led to more people renovating their homes,” Wahba writes. The company now anticipates that future growth will not come solely from its 2,000 big-box stores serving DIY customers, but increasingly from large orders placed by professionals for more complex projects, such as roof repairs.

GMS, based in Georgia, operates a network of about 320 distribution centers offering wallboard, ceilings, steel framing, and other construction materials. It also runs roughly 100 tool sales, rental, and service centers for residential and commercial contractors—“all things Home Depot covets,” according to Wahba.

Home Depot has long been thoughtful about its M&A strategy, Wahba notes, a discipline that has helped it outperform archrival Lowe’s in sales growth. You can read the complete article here.

Home Depot isn’t the only major U.S. company active in M&A this year. For example, tech giant HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) announced on Wednesday the completion of its acquisition of Juniper Networks for approximately $14 billion. “This strategic transaction accelerates our transformation to a higher-margin, higher-growth portfolio and positions HPE for long-term, profitable revenue expansion,” HPE CFO Marie Myers stated in a LinkedIn post.

The Americas led global M&A with $908 billion in deal value in the first half of 2025 (61% of the total), up from $722 billion (55%) the previous year, according to PwC’s mid-year M&A update.

Meanwhile, Bain & Company reports that some companies are not allowing tariffs—or the changed economic world order they represent—to derail M&A activity.

With disciplined dealmaking and a focus on long-term growth, many companies are positioning themselves to thrive.

The next CFO Daily will be in your inbox on Monday. Enjoy the July Fourth holiday.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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Fortune 500 Power Moves

Jesus “Jay” Malave was appointed EVP and CFO of Boeing (No. 63), effective Aug. 15. Brian West, who served as Boeing CFO for the last four years, will become a senior advisor to Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg. Malave was most recently CFO of Lockheed Martin and before that held the positions of SVP and CFO at L3Harris Technologies. He spent more than 20 years at United Technologies Corporation, including serving as vice president and CFO of Carrier Corporation when it was an operating unit of UTC, and vice president and CFO at UTC Aerospace Systems.

Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition

More notable moves this week

Brian Musfeldt was appointed CFO of Stem, Inc. (NYSE: STEM), an AI-driven clean energy software and services provider, effective July 17. Musfeldt succeeds Doran Hole, who is stepping down as CFO and EVP to pursue other interests. Musfeldt returns to Stem after serving as CFO of AlsoEnergy from 2017 to 2023, where he was instrumental in AlsoEnergy’s sale to Stem in 2022. He has nearly 30 years of experience, which also includes serving as CFO of ikeGPS, a platform technology company.

Andrea Courtois was appointed SVP and CFO of Kirkland’s, Inc., a specialty retailer of home décor and furnishings, effective July 21. Courtois will succeed Mike Madden, who plans to pursue other opportunities but will remain in an advisory position until Aug. 15. Courtois brings over 20 years of financial expertise. She most recently served as VP of financial planning and analysis at Francesca’s, following tenures in financial leadership roles at La Senza, Lane Bryant, and Lands’ End.

Brad Dahms was named CFO of Jade Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: JBIO), a biotechnology company. Dahms was most recently CFO and chief business officer of IDRx, a clinical-stage oncology company. Before that, he served as CFO of Theseus Pharmaceuticals, where he guided the company’s initial public offering and sale to Concentra Biosciences. He began his career in health care investment banking, holding roles at Cantor Fitzgerald, RBC Capital Markets, and J.P. Morgan.

Pierre Revol was appointed CFO of FrontView REIT, Inc. (NYSE: FVR), effective July 21. Revol brings more than 20 years of experience. Most recently, he served as SVP of Capital Markets at CyrusOne. Before that, Revol served as SVP of corporate finance and investor relations at Spirit Realty Capital, Inc., formerly a publicly traded net-lease REIT.

Marc Grasso was appointed CFO of Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: KYTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, effective June 30. Grasso brings more than 25 years of experience to the company. He succeeds Ryan Jones, who will move to a strategic advisor role. Most recently, Grasso served as CFO of Alector, Inc. Before that, he held the position of CFO and chief business officer of Kura Oncology.

Big Deal

Debt burden grows for rated U.S. corporations in Q1, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Total debt made up a larger share of shareholder equity in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter for both nonfinancial U.S. investment-grade and non-investment-grade companies.

The debt-to-equity ratio for the median nonfinancial investment-grade company increased by 131 basis points quarter over quarter, reaching 85.10%. Investment-grade companies are defined as those rated BBB- or higher by S&P Global Ratings. The rise in debt-to-equity was less pronounced for non-investment-grade companies, with the median ratio edging up to 117.6% from 117.5%.