8th Nov 2005 09:09
Wolseley PLC08 November 2005 NEWS RELEASE8 November 2005 Wolseley plc Acquisition update - £7 Million Spent on Two Further Acquisitions Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing andheating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of buildingmaterials, announced today two further acquisitions. Since the beginning of the financial year on 1 August 2005, a total of 15distribution businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for anaggregate consideration of approximately £418 million in cash. These 15acquisitions are expected to add approximately £671 million to group turnover ina full year. Goodwill related to these acquisitions is estimated to be around£266 million. North American Plumbing and Heating Distribution On 7 November 2005, Ferguson acquired LAB Distributing, Inc. ("LAB") from Lynneand Rick Clawson. LAB is the largest independent dealer of General Electricappliances in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina market. In the year ended 31August 2005, LAB had sales of $2.5 million (£1.4 million) and had gross assetsof $0.7 million (£0.4 million) at that date. US Building Materials Distribution On 7 November 2005, Stock Building Supply ("Stock") acquired Canyon Drive Lumber("Canyon") a distributor of building materials, from members of the Barnettfamily. Canyon is the market leader in Amarillo, Texas with a solid customerbase of local and regional builders that focus on custom homes. In the yearended 31 December 2004, Canyon had sales of $32.3 million (£17.9 million) andhad gross assets of $6.3 million (£3.5 million) at that date. The divisional split of the total acquisition spend since 1 August 2005 is: Division No. of Spend Acquisitions £ million European Distribution 4 242North American Plumbing & Heating Distribution 9 102US Building Materials Distribution 2 74TOTAL 15 418 Charlie Banks, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said: "I am delighted to announce these two new acquisitions which will furtherstrengthen our presence in North America. They support our strategy of growingthe business at double-digit rates through acquisitions and organic growth." ENQUIRIES: Investors/Analysts: Guy Stainer 0118 929 8744Head of Investor Relations 07739 778 187 Press:Penny Studholme 0118 929 8886Director of Corporate Communications Brunswick 020 7404 5959Andrew FenwickDeborah Fairbrass Exchange Rates The following exchange rates have been used for the acquisitions noted above:£1 = $1.80. Certain statements included in this announcement may be forward-looking and mayinvolve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results todiffer materially from those expressed or implied by the forward lookingstatements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, projectionsrelating to results of operations and financial conditions and the Company'splans and objectives for future operations including, without limitation,discussions of the Company's business and financial plans, expected futurerevenues and expenditures, investments and disposals, risks associated withchanges in economic conditions, the strength of the plumbing and heating andbuilding materials market in North America and Europe, fluctuations in productprices and changes in exchange and interest rates. All forward-lookingstatements in this respect are based upon information known to the Company onthe date of this announcement. The Company undertakes no obligation to publiclyupdate or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of newinformation, future events or otherwise. It is not reasonably possible toitemise all of the many factors and events that could cause the Company'sforward-looking statements to be incorrect or that could otherwise have amaterial adverse effect on the future operations or results of the Company. 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 2005 were approximately £11.3 billion and operating profit,before goodwill, was £721 million. Wolseley has around 60,000 employeesoperating in 14 countries namely: UK, USA, France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, TheNetherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourgand Denmark. 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