Acquisition Update

Wolseley PLC
08 February 2006

NEWS RELEASE
8 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 and
heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building
materials, announced today three further acquisitions.

Since the beginning of the financial year on 1 August 2005, a total of 25
distribution businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for an
aggregate consideration of approximately £508 million. These 25 acquisitions are
expected to add approximately £806 million to group turnover in a full year.
Goodwill and intangible assets related to these acquisitions is estimated to be
around £326 million.


US Building Materials Distribution
----------------------------------
On 1 February 2006, Stock Building Supply ('Stock') acquired Universal Supply
Co., Inc. ('Universal') a diversified distributor of building materials, from
members of the Umosella family. The acquisition gives Stock its first presence
in the state of New Jersey operating from seven branches. Universal is the
market leader in southern New Jersey with a well diversified customer base of
local building contractors. In the year ended 31 December 2005 Universal had
sales of $142.0 million (£80.0 million) and gross assets of $40.9 million (£23.0
million) at that date.


European Distribution
---------------------
On 1 February 2006 PBM acquired Alain Carrelage, a floor tiling distributor from
Alain Tarbouriech, Bernadette Tarbouriech, Odette Tarbouriech, William
Tarbouriech, Alex Vial, Denise Lagondrille and Bernard Gau. Alain Carrelage has
one outlet in Labege, a suburb of Toulouse, in France. In the year ended 31
December 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 side
products from Daniel Audin and other shareholders. The acquisition is subject to
the French Finance Ministry's approval following which, closing is expected in
April 2006. DAFI operates from 18 branches in the Rhone-Alpes region of South
East France with a customer base of generalist builders' merchants. In the year
ended 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          273
North American Plumbing & Heating Distribution               12          111
US 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 further
strengthen our presence in Europe and North America and take our total spend in
just 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 is
expanding its geographic footprint for future growth.'



ENQUIRIES:

Investors/Analysts:
Guy Stainer                            0118 929 8744
Head of Investor Relations             07739 778187

Press:
Penny Studholme                        0118 929 8886
Director of Corporate Communications   07860 553834

Brunswick                              020 7404 5959
Andrew Fenwick
Deborah 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 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 and a leading supplier of building materials to professional
contractors in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group sales for the
year ended 31 July 2005 were approximately £11.3 billion and operating profit,
before goodwill, was £708 million. Wolseley has around 63,000 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.L, NYSE: WOS) and is in the FTSE 100 index of listed companies.

                                   -- ENDS --


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