8th Feb 2006 07:00
Wolseley PLC08 February 2006 NEWS RELEASE8 February 2006 Wolseley plc Acquisition update - £72 million spent on three further acquisitions taking total for the year so far to more than £500 million Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing andheating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of buildingmaterials, announced today three further acquisitions. Since the beginning of the financial year on 1 August 2005, a total of 25distribution businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for anaggregate consideration of approximately £508 million. These 25 acquisitions areexpected to add approximately £806 million to group turnover in a full year.Goodwill and intangible assets related to these acquisitions is estimated to bearound £326 million. US Building Materials Distribution----------------------------------On 1 February 2006, Stock Building Supply ("Stock") acquired Universal SupplyCo., Inc. ("Universal") a diversified distributor of building materials, frommembers of the Umosella family. The acquisition gives Stock its first presencein the state of New Jersey operating from seven branches. Universal is themarket leader in southern New Jersey with a well diversified customer base oflocal building contractors. In the year ended 31 December 2005 Universal hadsales of $142.0 million (£80.0 million) and gross assets of $40.9 million (£23.0million) at that date. European Distribution---------------------On 1 February 2006 PBM acquired Alain Carrelage, a floor tiling distributor fromAlain Tarbouriech, Bernadette Tarbouriech, Odette Tarbouriech, WilliamTarbouriech, Alex Vial, Denise Lagondrille and Bernard Gau. Alain Carrelage hasone outlet in Labege, a suburb of Toulouse, in France. In the year ended 31December 2004 it had sales of €4.0 million (£2.7 million) and gross assets of€0.9 million (£0.6 million) at that date. On 3 February 2006 PBM agreed to acquire DAFI, a distributor of heavy sideproducts from Daniel Audin and other shareholders. The acquisition is subject tothe French Finance Ministry's approval following which, closing is expected inApril 2006. DAFI operates from 18 branches in the Rhone-Alpes region of SouthEast France with a customer base of generalist builders' merchants. In the yearended 31 December 2004 DAFI generated turnover of €64.7 million (£44.0 million)and had gross assets of €25.9 million (£17.6 million) at that date. The divisional split of the total acquisition spend since 1 August 2005 is: Division No. of Acquisitions Spend £ Million------------------------------------------------------------------------------European Distribution 10 273North American Plumbing & Heating Distribution 12 111US Building Materials Distribution 3 124 --------------------------------------- TOTAL 25 508 Charlie Banks, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said: "We are delighted to announce these new acquisitions which will furtherstrengthen our presence in Europe and North America and take our total spend injust over six months to more than £500 million, twice our annual target spend. I am particularly pleased that Stock has entered its 31st US state and that PBM is expanding in the South East of France, both illustrating how Wolseley isexpanding its geographic footprint for future growth." ENQUIRIES: Investors/Analysts:Guy Stainer 0118 929 8744Head of Investor Relations 07739 778187 Press:Penny Studholme 0118 929 8886Director of Corporate Communications 07860 553834 Brunswick 020 7404 5959Andrew FenwickDeborah Done Exchange Rates The following exchange rates have been used for the acquisitions noted above:£1 = $1.78, £1 = €1.47. 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 £708 million. Wolseley has around 63,000 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:
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