18th Oct 2005 07:00
Wolseley PLC18 October 2005 NEWS RELEASE 18 October 2005 Wolseley plc £87 Million Spent on Eight Acquisitions since 1 August 2005 Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing andheating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of buildingmaterials, issues an update on acquisitions made. Since the beginning of the financial year on 1 August 2005, an additional eightdistribution businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for anaggregate consideration of approximately £87 million in cash. In total, the eight acquisitions completed to date are expected to addapproximately £170 million to group turnover in a full year. Goodwill related tothese acquisitions is estimated to be around £45 million. European Distribution At the end of September, Wolseley UK acquired HGH Plumbing Supplies ("HGH") fromMr P Lake and Mr G Hadridge. HGH is a specialist merchant of plastic aboveground drainage products and operates from one location in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. In the year ended 31 January 2005, HGH achieved sales of £5.9 million and had gross assets of £1.9 million at that date. In October, Wolseley acquired the Centratec Group ("Centratec") from Immo EeraN.V and Mr P Frateur. Centratec is a distributor of domestic and commercialheating equipment and pipes valves and fittings (PVF). Centratec operates from 6locations focused on the central and eastern regions of Belgium. Centratecachieved sales of €42.1 million (£28.8 million) in the year ended 31 December2004 and had gross assets of €21.5 million (£14.7 million) at that date. North American Plumbing and Heating Distribution In August 2005, Wolseley Canada acquired Sudbury Valve Fitting & Control Ltd.("SVFC") from SVFC Holdings Inc. and members of the Smith family. SVFCspecialises in supplying industrial valves, valve actuation and instrumentationto the mining, pulp and paper and related industries in Northern and CentralOntario and Quebec from its location in Sudbury, Ontario. In the year ended 31May 2005, SVFC had sales of C$4.8 million (£2.1 million) and had gross assets ofC$0.9 million (£0.4 million) at that date. Also in August 2005, Ferguson acquired certain assets associated with thebusiness trading as Park Supply, headquartered in Chicago, IL. Park Supply is awholesale distributor of heating, ventilation, cooling, hydronics equipment andsupplies. In addition to the headquarters in Chicago, the acquisition includesseven other Chicago area locations and one in Hammond, Indiana. The purchase ofPark Supply will significantly increase Ferguson's presence in the northernIllinois marketplace and expand its customer base. In the year ended 31 December2004, Park Supply had sales of $48.5 million (£26.9 million) and had grossassets of $19.9 million (£11.1 million) at that date. Additionally in August 2005, Ferguson acquired certain assets from S&SFabrication and Supply Co., ("S&S") located in Mechanicsville, VA. Thisacquisition will increase Ferguson's ability to provide fire protection servicesin the Hampton Roads area and strengthen its presence in Northern Virginia/D.C.S&S will trade as Ferguson Fire and Fabrication. In the year ended 31 December2004, S&S had sales of $1.7 million (£0.9 million) and had gross assets of $0.4million (£0.2 million) at that date. In September 2005, Ferguson acquired certain assets of Contractors FieldProducts, Inc., trading as CFP. CFP is a geotechnical and environmental siteworksupplier headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Geotextiles and erosion controlproducts complement and are a natural extension of Ferguson's existingwaterworks line. In the year ended 31 December 2004, CFP had sales of $13.2million (£7.3 million) and had gross assets of $3.7 million (£2.0 million) atthat date. Also in September 2005, Ferguson acquired Economy Plumbing & Heating Supply Co.,Inc., ("Economy") from members of the Abrams family. Economy is a wholesaledistributor of plumbing and heating equipment, supplying to the commercial andresidential markets based in Philadelphia, Pa. In the year ended 31 July 2005,Economy had sales of $26.1 million (£14.5 million) and had gross assets of $8.1million (£4.5 million) at that date. Additionally in September 2005, Ferguson acquired Endries, Inc. and EndriesInternational, Inc. ("Endries") from members of the Endries family and a familytrust. Endries is an international provider of Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI)programs for the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Maintenance, Repairand Overhaul (MRO) industries. Endries has a branch network of 70 locationsacross America and also has small operations in Canada, the UK and theNetherlands. The principal products supplied by Endries include, fasteners and hardware,electrical components, pipe, valves and fittings (PVF) as well as tools,accessories and industrial supplies. In the year ended 31 July 2005, Endries hadsales of $149.5 million (£83.1 million) and had gross assets of $57.7 million(£32.1 million) at that date. The segmental split of the total acquisition spend since 1 August 2005 has been: Division No. of Spend Acquisitions £ million European Distribution 2 20North American Plumbing & Heating Distribution 6 67US Building Materials Distribution - -TOTAL 8 87 Charlie Banks, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said: "I am very pleased to be able to announce these acquisitions within our firstquarter which will further strengthen our presence in Europe and also in NorthAmerica. They support our strategy of growing the business through acquisitionand organic growth." Exchange Rates The following exchange rates have been used for the acquisitions noted above:£1 = $1.80, £1 = €1.46, £1 = C$2.29. ENQUIRIES: Investors/Analysts: Guy Stainer 0118 929 8744Head of Investor Relations 07739 778187 Press:Penny Studholme 0118 929 8886Director of Corporate Communications Brunswick 020 7404 5959Andrew FenwickDeborah Fairbrass 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