Construction spending continued to slow in May, but it looks like the Home Depot is making a play to capture more of it. The home improvement retailer announced it’s spending $4.3 billion to acquire GMS Inc., a building supply distributor for materials like drywall and steel supports.

It’s part of a broader strategy to serve more large scale professional contractors that work on big construction projects, as opposed to the smaller scale pros and DIYers who shop in-store.

Last year Home Depot acquired a different building supply distributor — SRS — which specializes in roofing, landscaping and pool materials. The acquisition of GMS is another sign Home Depot is going after the big guys. Think, entire home construction instead of bathroom renovations.

“What's attractive about that business is that Lowe’s really doesn't compete there,” said Michael Baker, a managing director at investment firm D.A. Davidson.

Lowe’s has increasingly focused on contractors, but more at the small and medium end. Baker said Home Depot’s pivot could expose the company to vulnerabilities in the construction industry.

“But in a way, it sort of diversifies their … exposure. Without that business, they're really very levered to home sales, and actually that market has been pretty soft,” he said.

Home Depot assumes construction won’t stay depressed, said Amol Shah at consulting firm AlixPartners.

“They are making an intrinsic bet that the worst is behind us,” he said.

Home Depot actually tried to break into wholesale back in the ‘90s and early aughts, according to Seth Basham at Wedbush Securities. But it sold its HD Supply subsidiary off in 2007.

“They weren't executing well in the stores. They were losing market share. They weren't treating their associates right, and their customers weren't being treated right,” he said.

Home Depot’s retail business is now in much better shape, Basham said.

Consultant Michael Brown at Kearney said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the retail take wholesale up a notch.

“I think the next move for them is … they might be able to move vertical and look to be a manufacturer,” he said.

In other words, “Big Orange” could get even bigger.