11th Jan 2007 07:00
Wolseley PLC11 January 2007 NEWS RELEASE 11 January 2007 Wolseley plc Acquisitions Update£66 million spent on four acquisitions taking total for bolt on acquisitions for the year to date to £328 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 four further bolt on acquisitions for an aggregateconsideration of £66 million. In a full year, these bolt on acquisitions areexpected to add approximately £116 million to total revenue. Since the beginning of the financial year on 1 August 2006, a total of twentynine bolt on acquisitions in Europe and North America have been completed for anaggregate consideration of approximately £328 million. These twenty nineacquisitions are expected to add approximately £560 million to Group revenue ina full year. Goodwill and intangible assets related to these acquisitions isestimated to be around £219 million. In addition, on 25 September 2006, Wolseleyplc completed the acquisition of DT Group (formerly known as Danske Traelast)for an estimated consideration of £1,353 million which brings aggregateacquisition spend for the year to £1,681 million. North America On 29 December 2006, Cal-Steam Supply, Inc. and affiliated corporations ("CalSteam") were acquired from Stuart D. Corvin, Dana A. Corvin and Adele K. Corvin.Cal-Stream is a distributor of plumbing products with ten locations, primarilyin the San Francisco Bay area. This acquisition will add to Wolseley'sestablished strength in the residential and commercial plumbing segment and willbenefit from Wolseley's new Stockton, California, distribution centre due to becompleted later this year. In the year ended 31 December 2005, Cal-Stream hadrevenue of $148.6 million (£76.6 million) and gross assets of $21.9 million(£11.3 million) at that date. On 18 December 2006, Ferguson acquired the assets of Guntersville Fabricationand Sprinkler Co., Inc. and Guntersville Pipe and Supply ("Guntersville") fromTim Bice. Guntersville is a distributor and fabricator of fire protectionsystems with three locations in the south-eastern region of the USA serving OhioValley, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. This acquisition supports Wolseley'sstrategy of expanding its presence in the distribution and fabrication of fireprotection systems market. In the year ended 31 October 2006, Guntersville hadrevenue of $31.5 million (£16.2 million) and gross assets of $6.7 million (£3.4million) at that date. Europe On 22 December 2006, Wolseley UK acquired R J Hosking Building Supplies Limited("Hosking") from Roger and Sandra Hosking. Hosking operates from a single branchin Porthleven, Cornwall that offers a wide range of building materials with anemphasis on heavy side materials such as bricks, blocks, aggregates and timberwhich will complement Wolseley UK's existing businesses in the area. In the yearended 30 April 2006, Hosking had revenue of £3.9 million and gross assets £1.0million at that date. On 22 December 2006, Wasco acquired Kopex Groothandel in Sanitaire InstallatieArtikelen B.V., Kopex Apeldorn B.V., Kopex Tilburg B.V., Van Deursen TechnischeHandelsonderneming, B.V. ("Kopex") from Roverts Beheer B.V. Kopex is adistributor of sanitary products operating from nine locations around Hollandsupplying professional plumbers. This acquisition supports Wasco's strategy ofexpanding its product range and increasing its presence in the repairs,maintenance and improvement markets. In the year ended 31 December 2005, Kopexhad revenue of €29.0 million (£19.6 million) and gross assets of €10.5 million(£7.1 million) at that date. The divisional split of the total acquisition spend since 1 August 2006 is: Division No. of Acquisitions Spend £ Million Europe 13 80North America 16 248TOTAL BOLT ONS 29 328Acquisition of DT Group 1 1,353TOTAL ACQUISITION SPEND 30 1,681 Chip Hornsby, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said: "We are delighted to announce these four bolt on acquisitions which build on oursuccessful growth strategy across Europe and North America." ENQUIRIES: Guy Stainer +44 118 929 8744Head of Investor Relations +44 7739 778187 John English +1 513 771 9000Vice President, Investor Relations, North America +1 513 328 4900 Brunswick +44 20 7404 5959Andrew FenwickNina Coad Exchange Rates The following exchange rate has been used for the acquisitions noted above:£1 = $1.94, £1 = €1.48 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 to professional contractors and a leading supplier of buildingmaterials in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group revenues forthe year ended 31 July 2006 were approximately £14.2 billion and operatingprofit, before amortisation of acquired intangibles, was £882 million. Wolseleyhas around 79,000 employees operating in 27 countries namely: UK, USA, France,Canada, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic,Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Slovak Republic,Poland, Romania, Croatia, San Marino, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago,Mexico and Barbados. Wolseley is listed on the London and New York StockExchanges (LSE: WOS, NYSE: WOS) and is in the FTSE 100 index of listedcompanies. -- ENDS -- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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