7th Apr 2005 07:00
Wolseley PLC07 April 2005 Wolseley plc £37 Million Spent on Three New Acquisitions Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing andheating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of buildingmaterials, provides an update on recent acquisitions. Since Wolseley's interim results announcement on 21 March 2005, an additionalthree distribution businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired foran aggregate consideration of approximately £37 million in cash. These acquisitions bring Wolseley's total spend on acquisitions, including debtacquired, since the beginning of the financial year, to approximately £259million. In total, the eighteen acquisitions completed to date are expected toadd approximately £487 million to group turnover in a full year. Goodwillrelated to these eighteen acquisitions is estimated to be around £87 million. Details of the additional three acquisitions are set out below. European Distribution In April 2005, Tobler in Switzerland acquired Niklaus Energie - und Gebaudetechnik AG ("Niklaus"). Niklaus is a distributor of plumbing and heatingproducts to the trade and a specialist distributor of insulation and ventilationproducts, supplying heating systems to commercial construction projects. Niklausoperates from six branches across Switzerland and achieved sales of CHF33.7million (£14.9 million) in the eighteen months to 31 December 2004 and had netassets, excluding net debt, of CHF9.1 million (£4.0 million) at that date. North American Plumbing and Heating Distribution In April 2005, Ferguson agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets ofFull Service Supply Inc. ("FSS"), subject to assignment of certain customercontracts. Headquartered in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, FSS is a wholly ownedsubsidiary of Kennametal Inc., primarily focused on delivery of Maintenance,Repair and Operations (MRO) supplies to customers in the manufacturing sector.It serves more than 100 customers across 33 states in the USA and one provinceof Canada. In the year ended 30 June 2004 FSS had sales of $138.5 million (£74.1million) and net assets, excluding net debt, of $47.2 million (£25.2 million) atthat date. On completion, which is expected in May 2005, FSS will operate aspart of the Ferguson Integrated Systems division. US Building Materials Distribution In April 2005, Stock Building Supply acquired the trade and net assets ofDavidson Industries Inc ("Davidson"). Davidson is the leading fabricator anddistributor of lumber products, building materials, value-added components andmillwork in the greater metropolitan area of Indianapolis. Operating from twobranches, Davidson supplies customers with complete housing packages, roof andfloor trusses and engineered wood products. It had sales of US$65.5m (£35.0million) for the year ended 31 December 2004 and net assets, excluding net debt,of $19.7 million (£11.7 million) at that date. The segmental split of the total acquisition spend since 1 August 2004 has been: Division No. of Acquisitions Spend £ million European Distribution 8 160North American Plumbing & Heating Distribution 8 85US Building Materials Distribution 2 14 TOTAL 18 259 Charlie Banks, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said: "I am very pleased with these new deals which takes our acquisition spend so farthis year to £259 million. These bolt-on acquisitions will further strengthenour presence in Europe and North America, and they support our strategy ofgrowing the business through acquisition and organic growth." Exchange Rates The following exchange rates have been used for the acquisitions noted above:£1 = $1.87, £1 = CHF2.26 Press/Investor Enquiries: Wolseley plc 0118 929 8700 Guy StainerHead of Investor Relations Brunswick 020 7404 5959 Nina CoadDeborah Done Notes to Editors Wolseley plc is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing andheating products and a leading supplier of building materials to professionalcontractors in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group sales for theyear ended 31 July 2004 were approximately £10.1 billion and operating profit,before goodwill, was £619 million. Wolseley has around 51,500 employeesoperating in 13 countries namely: UK, USA, France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, TheNetherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg andDenmark. Wolseley is listed on the London and New York Stock Exchanges (LSE:WOS.L, NYSE: WOS) and is in the FTSE 100 index of listed companies. -- ENDS -- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Ferguson