Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Geoff Cooper, chief executive of builders merchant group Travis Perkins, has said the group is interested in buying some of the assets of rival builders merchant Wolseley.
Wolseley announced earlier this year that some of its businesses had been designated ‘performance builders’ and that those which did not build their performance to acceptable levels could be sold.
These include the UK builders merchant Build Center. Cooper told financial news organisation Bloomberg that Travis Perkins would like the opportunity to bring Build Center into the portfolio.
The Encon Insulation chain could also be of interest, Cooper said. “We’ve got good scale in some of those markets and adding a bit more scale would give us very good buying gains, so they’re potentially very good transactions.”
Travis Perkins has agreed to purchase rival plumbing and heating chain BSS Group for £553m, which will bring its share of the UK merchanting sector up to 20%, ahead of both Wolseley and Jewson.
Wolseley’s CEO Ian Meakins said earlier this year that he wouldn’t “dally” in disposing of unprofitable units, although decisions may take up to two years. The company has not confirmed whether the businesses will definitely be sold.
