Acquisition Update

Wolseley PLC
09 March 2006

                                  Wolseley plc
                              Acquisitions update
                             --------------------

    £63 million spent on four further acquisitions taking total for the year
             so far to £571 million, a record spend in any one year


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 four further acquisitions.

Since the beginning of the financial year on 1 August 2005, a total of 29
businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for an aggregate
consideration of approximately £571 million. These 29 acquisitions are expected
to add approximately £868 million to group turnover in a full year. Goodwill and
intangible assets related to these acquisitions is estimated to be around £367
million.

US Building Materials Distribution
----------------------------------

On 7 March 2006, Stock Building Supply ('Stock') acquired K&A Lumber Company 
('K&A') a leading supplier of framing lumber and fabricated reinforcing steel
('rebar'), from Richard Jackson II and Richard Jackson III. K&A has one outlet
in Homestead, Florida. The acquisition complements Stock's existing Florida
operations enabling it to utilise the rebar fabrication capabilities of K&A
across the Florida market. K&A's customers include national and regional
commercial contractors as well as national, regional and local homebuilders. The
acquisition is in line with Stock's strategy of diversification into some of the
commercial business opportunities in building materials. In the year ended 31
December 2004 K&A had sales of $86.5 million (£49.4 million) and gross assets of
$36.7 million (£20.9 million) at that date.

North American Plumbing & Heating Distribution
-----------------------------------------------

On 21 February 2006, Ferguson acquired Central Georgia Supply Co., Inc., trading
as Dixie Plumbing Supply Co. ('Dixie') a plumbing and waterworks wholesaler,
from Ricky Hulett and Kent Procter. Dixie has a very strong market position in
its one location in Macon, Georgia. In the year ended 31 December 2004 Dixie had
sales of $15.8 million (£9.0 million) and gross assets of $3.7 million (£2.1
million) at that date.

European Distribution
---------------------

On 1 March 2006, PBM acquired Centrale Reolaise des Bois ('CRB'), an assembler
and distributor of wood products, from Groupe Intersites. CRB has one outlet in
La Reole, 70km east of Bordeaux. CRB's customer base includes generalist
builders, end-users and carpenters. In the year ended 31 December 2004 it had
sales of €1.6 million (£1.1 million) and gross assets of €0.6 million (£0.4
million) at that date.

Also on 1 March 2006 PBM acquired the assets of Centrale des Materiaux ('CM'), a
specialist generalist builders' merchant. CM has one outlet and will expand
PBM's coverage in the South of France. In the year ended 31 March 2005 CM had
sales of €1.1 million (£0.75 million) and had gross assets of €1.0 million (£0.7
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                                           12         275
North American Plumbing & Heating Distribution                  13         114
US Building Materials Distribution                               4         182
                                       TOTAL                    29         571


Charlie Banks, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said:

'We are delighted to announce these new acquisitions which take our total spend
for the year so far to a record £571 million. These bolt-on acquisitions will
further strengthen our presence in Europe and North America and they 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

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 = $1.75, £1 = €1.46.



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 amortisation of acquired intangibles, 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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