Grafton To Sell Traditional Merchanting Business In Great Britain In £520 Mln Deal

(RTTNews) - Grafton Group plc (GFTU.L), a building materials distributor and DIY retailer, announced Thursday that it has entered into an agreement to divest its Traditional Merchanting Business in Great Britain for an enterprise value of 520 million pounds.

The business will be sold to Huws Gray, a UK-based builders' merchants, controlled by equity funds managed by Blackstone.

The divestment is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2022 and completion is not conditional on the outcome of the Competition and Markets Authority process.

The divesting business comprises the Buildbase, Civils & Lintels, PDM Buildbase, The Timber Group, Bathroom Distribution Group, Frontline and NDI brands. In the year 2020, the Business reported revenue of 828.2 million pounds, and gross assets of 497.2 million pounds.

Grafton will retain responsibility for the UK defined benefit pension scheme which was closed to future accrual at the end of 2020 when alternative arrangements were put in place.

Following the deal closure, Grafton will retain freehold properties with development potential that have a market value of about 25 million pounds.

The latest deal follows the announcement in April 2021 of a strategic review of the business.