Acquisitions update

Wolseley PLC
15 August 2006


                                  NEWS RELEASE
                                 15 August 2006


                                  Wolseley plc
                              Acquisitions update
 £36 million spent on six acquisitions taking total for the year ended 31 July
  2006 to a record £910 million and for year ending 31 July 2007 so far to £26
                                    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 six further acquisitions for an aggregate
consideration of £36 million. Three of these acquisitions were completed in the
year ended 31 July 2006 and three were completed in the financial year
commencing 1 August 2006. In a full year, these acquisitions are expected to add
approximately £90 million in additional revenue.

In the financial year ended 31 July 2006, three additional businesses in Europe
and North America were acquired for an aggregate consideration of approximately
£10 million. These acquisitions are expected to add approximately £29 million to
Group revenue in a full year. Since the beginning of the financial year on 1
August 2006, three businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for
an aggregate consideration of approximately £26 million. These acquisitions are
expected to add approximately £61 million to Group revenue in a full year.
Goodwill and intangible assets related to these acquisitions is estimated to be
around £15 million. These totals do not include the acquisition, conditional
only upon regulatory approval, to acquire DT Group (formerly known as Danske
Traelast) which was announced on 24 July 2006.

North America

On 17 July 2006, Stock Building Supply acquired certain assets of Martin
Architectural Products, Inc. ('Martin') from Mike Martin. Martin is a fabricator
and supplier of architectural products for commercial and institutional projects
based in North Carolina. In the year ended 31 December 2005, Martin had revenue
of $26.4 million (£13.9 million) and gross assets of $6.5 million (£3.4 million)
at that date.

On 1 August 2006, Ferguson acquired the assets of Water Works Supplies, Inc.
('WWSI') from James Taylor. WWSI distributes water works products and is based
in Southern Indiana, Central Eastern Kentucky and Southern Illinois. In the year
ended 30 June 2005, WWSI had revenue of $29.5 million (£15.5 million) and gross
assets of $5.9 million (£3.1 million) at that date.

On 1 August 2006, Ferguson acquired substantially all of the assets of Palermo
Supply Co. Inc., Palermo Plumbing Center, Inc., and Palermo Wholesale Supply,
Inc. ('Palermo') from those companies. Palermo is a plumbing and heating
distributor in Northern New Jersey and the greater New York areas. In the year
ended 31 December 2005, Palermo had revenue of $82.9 million (£43.6 million) and
gross assets of $17.4 million (£9.2 million) at that date.

Europe

On 1 July 2006, PBM acquired Depont Materiaux from Jean-Louis and Nadine Depont.
Depont Materiaux is a distributor of heavyside products with one branch in
Chateauvillain, in the East of France. In the year ended 30 September 2005,
Depont Materiaux had revenue of €0.5 million (£0.3 million) and gross assets of
€33,000 (£22,297) at that date.

On 7 July 2006, Centratec acquired Marmon Keystone Anbuma ('MK') from Eric
Huysentrijt. MK is a distributor of stainless and carbon steel pipe in Belgium,
France and the Netherlands and operates from three branches across Belgium. In
the year ended 31 March 2006, MK had revenue of €21.2 million (£14.3 million)
and gross assets of €7.5 million (£5.1 million) at that date.

On 11 August 2006, Wolseley UK acquired Lunts Heath Limited ('Lunt') from Robert
Price and Christopher Price. Lunt is a single branch distributor of building and
paving materials based in Cheshire. In the year ended 31 December 2005, Lunt had
revenue of £1.7 million and gross assets of £0.5 million at that date.

The divisional split of the total acquisition spend for the year ended 31 July
2006 is:

Division                       No. of                 Spend
                             Acquisitions            £ Million

Europe                            22                   415
North America                     31                   495
TOTAL                             53                   910

The divisional split of the total acquisition spend since 1 August 2006 is:

Division                       No. of                 Spend
                            Acquisitions            £ Million

Europe                            1                     1
North America                     2                    25
TOTAL                             3                    26

Chip Hornsby, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said:

'We are delighted to announce six further acquisitions which will help us
continue to grow our business in Europe and North America. Bolt-on acquisitions
like these are an important part of our successful growth strategy. These new
companies will be integrated quickly into our existing operations and will
deliver value to us from the outset. We have had a record year for acquisitions
in 2006, spending £910 million, and I am pleased to confirm the pipeline for
2007 continues to look encouraging.'


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 = $1.90, £1 = €1.48


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 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 70,000 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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