Wolseley group sells Irish operations for €26m

A GROUP of unnamed private investors is paying over €26 million for the business that owns building supplies and DIY chains Brooks and Heat Merchants.

Building materials group Wolseley has sold its Irish operations, namely Brooks, Heat Merchants, Tubs Tiles and Encon.

The British company agreed the deal yesterday and last night confirmed that it is selling the four businesses for €26.5 million.

It did not name the buyers, beyond describing them as “a group of private investors”. However, it is understood that none of the current management is involved. The buyers are acquiring all four brands, consisting of about 100 stores on both sides of the Border. Brooks has a presence both North and South, while the other three are limited to the Republic.

The deal will end Wolseley’s involvement in Ireland. Last year, the London-listed company said that it had lost €32.5 million in Ireland in the 12 months ended July 31st. Sales in its British and Irish businesses fell 16 per cent last year to €2.7 billion from €3.2 billion in 2008.

In July, it emerged that the company was planning to lay off 95 of its Irish staff and close a number of its stores around the country. Last February, it announced that it was planning to axe 150 jobs in Ireland.

Wolseley cut labour costs in Ireland by one-third and by last year staff numbers were 47 per cent of the roughly 1,200 that they were at the height of the building boom.

Pat Roche, chief executive of Wolseley Ireland, said yesterday the change in ownership would not make any difference to its operations. “It’s business as usual as far as all day-to-day operations are concerned and customers will be unaffected by this change in ownership,” he stressed.

Mr Roche said that the restructuring of the businesses, allied to management’s future plans, has positioned them to emerge from the recession.

Wolseley is headquartered in Britain, but less than a fifth of its sales come from there. The US accounts for 45 per cent of its revenues. In the 12 months to July 31st last year, its pretax profits fell 54 per cent to £293 million (€265 million). Revenues were down 2.5 per cent, or by 16.3 per cent at constant currency, to £14.4 billion.

Irish building materials group CRH is one of Wolseley’s main competitors in the US and Europe.