Grafton shares jump on the back of its UK asset sale

Sale of merchanting business earns a boost for building materials and DIY group which owns Woodie's

Grafton Group chief executive Gavin Slark. 

Shares in Irish-based building materials and DIY group Grafton jumped nearly 3.6% on its announcement of the sale of part of its traditional merchanting business in the UK.

Grafton’s shares initially jumped by over 5% on the announcement that Huws Gray — one of the largest independent builders’ merchants in the UK — has agreed to buy the business for up to £520m (€605m). That figure is better than expected, with analysts having expected a sale price closer to £400m.