British building materials group buys Brooks

British building materials group Wolseley stepped up its European expansion today with a £120m (€181m) deal for Ireland’s biggest timber distributor.

The swoop for Brooks, which has 18 branches and 430 employees, comes five years after Wolseley bought Heatmerchants, a heating and plumbing specialist.

Reading-based Wolseley said it would combine the two operations, using the “branch within a branch” concept already in use for Hire Center and Building Center operations in the UK. Wolseley currently has 50 sites and 400 staff in Ireland, along with outlets in another 11 countries.

The acquisition from UPM-Kymmene Corporation will cost £120m (€181m), but Wolseley plans to raise £35m (€52m) from the sale of some Brooks sites.

Excluding the Brooks acquisition, Wolseley has now completed 15 deals in the financial year to date with a total price of £123m (€185m).

Chief executive Charlie Banks said: “Brooks is an excellent company and, along with Heatmerchants, provides Wolseley with a platform for further organic growth in the Ireland market.”

Wolseley posted pre-tax profits of £226.3m (€337.9m) and generated sales of £4.8bn (€7.2bn) in the six months to January 31.