Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC (“CHS”) announced today that it has made an equity investment in Home Acres Building Supply Co. (“Home Acres”), a leading distributor of gypsum wallboard and related interior products in the upper Midwest, serving the Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana non-residential and residential construction markets. Home Acres serves more than 3,400 customers through a network of 16 branches. Its product line includes more than 10,000 SKUs from over 320 vendors. Home Acres is a founding and active member of the Drake Group, LLC (“Drake Group”), an 83 member wallboard purchasing cooperative formed in 1995.

CHS’ investment in Home Acres represents a partnership between CHS and Home Acres’ Chairman, Jerry Jonker, and President and CEO, Grant Ellis. Commenting on the partnership between CHS and Home Acres, Grant Ellis said, “Our desire has always been, and will continue to be, to grow the business profitably by providing the best possible service to our customers. Effective June 1, Home Acres has partnered with a private equity firm that has a great deal of experience helping distribution companies like ours to grow. Having CHS as our partner provides us with access to significant sources of capital so that we can make larger strategic acquisitions and more aggressively grow in the years ahead.”

Peter Gotsch, Partner at CHS, said, “We have tremendous confidence in Jerry Jonker and Grant Ellis and we look forward to working with the entire Home Acres team.”

The investment in Home Acres complements CHS’ portfolio of investments in the distribution industry, which currently includes Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (Nasdaq: BECN), a leading distributor of residential and commercial roofing products; The Hillman Group, a leading distributor of fasteners, key blanks, signage and other small hardware components; Hoboken Wood Flooring Corporation, a leading distributor of hard surface flooring; Houston Wire & Cable Company (Nasdaq: HWCC), the largest U.S. distributor of specialty wire and cable; and SunSource, the largest independent distributor of fluid power products and systems in the United States.

CHS is a Chicago-based private equity firm specializing in private equity investments and recapitalizations of middle market companies in partnership with management. CHS has formed five private equity funds and currently manages over $2.5 billion of capital. Funds for CHS’ investment in Home Acres came from Code Hennessy & Simmons V LP, a $1.3 billion investment fund formed in 2005.

For more information on Home Acres, please refer to the company's Web site at www.homeacres.com.