Acquisition Update
Wolseley PLC
20 September 2006
Wolseley plc
Acquisitions update
£22 million spent on three acquisitions taking total for year ending
31 July 2007 so far to £49 million
Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and
heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building
materials, announced today three further acquisitions for an aggregate
consideration of £22 million. In a full year, these acquisitions are expected to
add approximately £30 million in additional revenue.
Since the beginning of the financial year on 1 August 2006, a total of six
businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for an aggregate
consideration of approximately £49 million. These six acquisitions are expected
to add approximately £91 million to Group revenue in a full year. Goodwill and
intangible assets related to these acquisitions is estimated to be around £29
million. These totals do not include the acquisition of DT Group (formerly known
as Danske Traelast) which was announced on 24 July 2006 and is expected to
complete in the next eight days.
North America
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On 21 August 2006, Ferguson acquired the assets of United Automatic Heating
Supply Ltd ('United Automatic') from James Haskell. United Automatic is an Ohio
based distributor of heating ventilation and air conditioning equipment and
supplies. In the year ended 31 December 2005, United Automatic had revenue of
$29.4 million (£15.7 million) and gross assets of $5.4 million (£2.9 million) at
that date.
Europe
------
On 31 August 2006, Brossette acquired Sigmatec SAS ('Sigmatec') from Mr Gournay.
Sigmatec is an electrical distributor based in Northern France. In the year
ended 31 March 2006, Sigmatec had revenue of €5.6 million (£3.8 million) and
gross assets of €0.4 million (£0.3 million) at that date.
On 19 September 2006, Wolseley UK acquired Morris Insulation Ltd, Acoustic and
Thermal Insulation Ltd, Customised Insulation Manufacturers Ltd and Construction
Insulation Distributors Ltd ('the Insulation Companies') from Rhodes Securities
Limited. The Insulation Companies, based in Dublin, are the leading distributors
of insulation materials in the Republic of Ireland. In the year ended 31 August
2005, the Insulation Companies had revenue of €15.6 million (£10.5 million) and
gross assets of €12.7 million (£8.5 million) at that date.
The divisional split of the total acquisition spend since 1 August 2006 is:
Division No. of Acquisitions Spend
£ Million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe 3 20
North America 3 29
TOTAL 6 49
Chip Hornsby, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said:
'We are delighted to announce these three further acquisitions which will help
us continue to grow our business in Europe and North America. These acquisitions
support our strategy of growing the business through acquisition and organic
growth.'
ENQUIRIES:
Investors/Analysts:
Guy Stainer 0118 929 8744
Head of Investor Relations 07739 778187
John English 001 513 771 9000
Director, Investor Relations North America 001 513 328 4900
Media:
Penny Studholme 0118 929 8886
Director of Corporate Communications 07860 553834
Brunswick 020 7404 5959
Andrew Fenwick
Nina Coad
Exchange Rates
The following exchange rate has been used for the acquisitions noted above:
£1 = $1.88, £1 = €1.49
Certain statements included in this announcement may be forward-looking and may
involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking
statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, projections
relating to results of operations and financial conditions and the Company's
plans and objectives for future operations including, without limitation,
discussions of the Company's business and financial plans, expected future
revenues and expenditures, investments and disposals, risks associated with
changes in economic conditions, the strength of the plumbing and heating and
building materials market in North America and Europe, fluctuations in product
prices and changes in exchange and interest rates. All forward-looking
statements in this respect are based upon information known to the Company on
the date of this announcement. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. It is not reasonably possible to
itemise all of the many factors and events that could cause the Company's
forward-looking statements to be incorrect or that could otherwise have a
material 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 and
heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building
materials in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group revenues for
the year ended 31 July 2005 were approximately £11.3 billion and operating
profit, before amortisation of acquired intangibles, was £708 million. Wolseley
has more than 71,000 employees operating in 14 countries namely: UK, USA,
France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech
Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark. Wolseley is listed on the
London and New York Stock Exchanges (LSE: WOS, NYSE: WOS) and is in the FTSE 100
index of listed companies.
-- ENDS --
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