Following two years of speculation, Building materials giant Wolseley has now sold its retail business Bathstore to a newly-incorporated company backed by Endless LLP, for £15million.
The amount is payable over the next five years, and as part of the transaction Endless LLP has invested £11million of new capital in the business to fund its development.
In the nine months to April 30, 2012, Bathstore had revenue of £66million and had associated assets of £7million at January 31, 2012.
Chief executive of Wolseley, Ian Meakins commented: “The disposal is in line with our strategy of focusing on our core operations. I would like to thank the staff of Bathstore for their commitment to the business and wish them every success for the future.”
In 2010 Wolseley announced its intention to improve or sell 19 core businesses, and although non were mentioned many experts believed Bathstore to be one.
Since that time, many names have been connected to a possible acquisition of the company.
These have included private equity firm Electra, through to trade buyers including the former management team from Marks & Spencer, the former owner of Dolphin Bathrooms Sun Capital Partners, and even its founder Patrick Riley who owns Bathroom Brands.
Bathstore started in Croydon as Simply Bathrooms and sold to Wolseley in 2003 for an undisclosed sum. It built the chain from 33 stores to more than 160.
Bathstore recorded a turnover of £104million and pre-tax profits of £4.5million in the year to July 31, 2009.
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It's good to see bathstore sold. I think there was a lot of uncertainty in the market as to what would happen to it. Personally I see the original vision for bathstore as a great one, especially in an industry that is often fragmented. I worry what this will mean for some of the franchises, but at the least it's a step forward.
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