Wolseley snaps up Wasco for £38m

THE world's largest distributor of plumbing, heating and building products, Wolseley, has acquired Holland's leading parts distributor in a £38m cash deal that could herald further expansion for the British group in Europe.

Wasco Group employs 180 staff in nine branches and is headquartered in Twello, east of Amsterdam. The Dutch group had turnover of £74.4m and a trading profit of £1.8m last year.

Wolseley finance director Steve Webster estimates that further development of the Dutch business will enable Wolseley to achieve its target of a 20% return on capital in the third year of the acquisition. Further bolt-on acquisitions are planned in Holland, where Wolseley has not been represented before. The group has been expanding rapidly worldwide, having spent £140m this year.

It has 2,750 outlets in Europe and the US and last year sold £7bn of heating, timber and plumbing spares. It plans a trading update on 24 July. The shares today added 20p to 652p.

Wolseley was recently upgraded to the blue-chip FTSE 100. Today chief executive Charles Banks said: 'We intend to continue with the process of change by increasing the number of branches and focusing on a wider range of products and customers.'