Construction Industry eMarketplace Cements Equity Partnership Deal

BuildPoint Corp., which operates an online marketplace for the construction industry, is trading cash for equity with RMC Group PLC, a worldwide materials and services supplier best known as the world’s largest producer of ready-mixed concrete.

Redwood City-based BuildPoint isn’t saying how much it received or exactly how much of the company it traded. It is saying that Georgia-based RMC is now a minority equity partner.

BuildPoint says it will use the funds to continue synchronizing its e-commerce platform with “every significant enterprise system and business process” used by construction industry suppliers and purchasers.

BuildPoint also has received an investment from Construction.com, a Net market for construction professionals, and partnered with the online real estate marketplace LoopNet to form the BuildPoint Financial Marketplace.

One of the company’s services is its Project Markeplace, a live online negotiating platform for bid management and lead generation. Suppliers to the marketplace include Communications Supply Corp., Electric Supply Company, Fastenal Company (Nasdaq:FAST) and Turtle & Hughes.

The company estimates that its services are used by more than 15,000 member companies and that it has facilitated more than $20 billion in business since launching in November 1999.