Wolseley plc Acquisitions Update: 9 Million Pounds Spent on Two Acquisitions Taking Total for Bolt on Acquisitions for the Year

CINCINNATI, Aug. 6  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 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 two further bolt on acquisitions for an aggregate consideration of 9 million pounds Sterling. In a full year, these bolt on acquisitions are expected to add approximately 14 million pounds to total revenue.

Since the beginning of the financial year on August 1, 2006, a total of 43 bolt on acquisitions in Europe and North America have been completed for an aggregate consideration of approximately 383 million pounds. These 43 acquisitions are expected to add approximately 671 million pounds to Group revenue in a full year. Goodwill and intangible assets related to these acquisitions is estimated to be around 261 million pounds. In addition, on September 25, 2006, Wolseley plc completed the acquisition of DT Group (formerly known as Danske Traelast) for an estimated consideration of 1,339 million pounds, which brings aggregate acquisition spend for the year ended July 31, 2007 to 1,722 million pounds.

  Details of the latest acquisitions are as follows:

  North America


On July 30, 2007, Ferguson acquired the assets of Fire Fab, Inc. ("Fire Fab") from Brad Coons and David Wagner. Fire Fab is a distributor and fabricator of fire safety and suppression systems located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the year ended December 31, 2006, Fire Fab had revenue of $12.4 million (6.0 million pounds) and gross assets of $2.7 million (1.3 million pounds) at that date. This acquisition expands Ferguson's presence in the growing fire protection market.

Europe

On July 30, 2007, DT Group acquired Save Tra Forsaljnings AB ("Save") from Pieter Martinsson AB, Klas Berntsson Invest AB and Per Stellan AB. Save, a builders merchant, operates from two branches in Save and Lerum, Sweden. In the year ended December 31, 2006, Save had revenue of SEK111.0 million (8.1 million pounds) and gross assets of SEK33.1 million (2.4 million pounds) at that date. This is the eighth bolt on acquisition since DT Group joined Wolseley Group and is consistent with the plan to expand DT's heavy side building materials footprint in the Nordic region.

The divisional split of the total acquisition spend for the year ended 31 July 2007 is:

                                   No. of               Spend
  Division                      Acquisitions        Million pounds
  Europe                             21                    96
  North America                      22                   287
  TOTAL BOLT ONS                     43                   383
  Acquisition of DT Group             1                 1,339
  TOTAL ACQUISITION SPEND            44                 1,722




In addition to the above, on July 26, 2007, Wolseley France signed an agreement conditional upon obtaining French competition clearance, to acquire Sofiparts SAS ("Sofiparts") and its subsidiary companies from SAS Savare. Sofiparts designs, engineers and assembles roof trusses operating from nineteen production sites across France. In the year ended December 31, 2006, Sofiparts had revenue of 121.4 million euros (81.5 million pounds) and gross assets of 36.6 million euros (24.5 million pounds) at that date. Completion of this acquisition is expected in November 2007. The conditional acquisition of Sofiparts is in line with Wolseley France's strategy to move into the truss assembly market and further increase its presence in the new residential sector.

Chip Hornsby, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said:

"These acquisitions build on our strategy of profitable growth through acquisitions and organic means and provide increased diversity to the Group's product range. We are delighted to also be announcing an agreement to acquire Sofiparts, a leading operator in the truss and wood frame housing market which will further complement our existing building materials operations in France."

Exchange Rates

The following exchange rate has been used for the acquisitions noted above:

1 pound = $2.06, 1 pound = SEK13.68, 1 pound = 1.49 euros

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 itemize 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.

About Wolseley plc

Wolseley plc is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building materials in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group revenue for the year ended July 31, 2006 was approximately 14.2 billion pounds and operating profit, before amortization of acquired intangibles, was 882 million pounds. Wolseley has around 78,000 employees operating in 28 countries namely: UK, USA, France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Slovak Republic, Poland, Romania, Croatia, San Marino, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico, Barbados and Greenland. 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. 

DATASOURCE: Wolseley plc



CONTACT:  Guy Stainer, Group Investor Relations Director,

[phone], [phone]; John R. English, Vice President, Investor

Relations, North America, [phone], [phone]; Brunswick: Andrew

Fenwick or Sophie Brand, [phone]



Web site:  http://www.wolseley.com/

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