Saint-Gobain has signed a £740m deal to sell Saint-Gobain Building Distribution Ltd to the Stark Group.

The acquired business includes 600 Jewson branches and distribution centres, along with Gibbs & Dandy (28 branches across England), JP Corry in Northern Ireland, and the specialist brands Jewson Civils Frazer, Minster and International Timber. Collectively they turn over £2.3bn a year and employ 8,900 people.

Jewson, founded in 1836, had been owned by Saint-Gobain since 2000. The sale is the culmination of an 18-month withdrawal by Compagnie de Saint-Gobain from the UK. Saint-Gobain chose Stark after a competitive sale process.

Stark Group A/S, is headquartered in Copenhagen and has operations in Scandinavia, Germany and Austria, in the retail and distribution of heavy building materials to the trade. With this acquisition, Stark annual sales turnover will be around £7.75bn.

Stark Group is owned by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.

In 2019, Stark acquired Saint-Gobain’s German distribution business and since doubled its net sales through organic growth and acquisitions.

Stark Group chief executive Søren Olesen said: “We have a strategy that successfully focuses on professional craftsmen and the renovation and maintenance market, which this acquisition fits very well into. In 2019, we bought Saint-Gobain’s German distribution business, and there are many similarities in this acquisition. We will do our utmost to develop, grow and invest behind the company making it the professional craftsmen’s preferred choice in the UK. We have acquired a business with whom we can continue our growth journey.”

“Despite the current tough macro-economic environment, the fundamental drivers for the renovation and maintenance market in the UK with its large need for energy renovation in the coming decades are attractive. We are on a strong growth trajectory, at the heart of which is being a good corporate citizen, we value all of our existing employees and are proud of our contributions to bringing down emissions.”

Jewson managing director Nadine Matthews, who moved across from Jewson Civils Frazer in May this year, said: “Saint-Gobain is a great business and under Saint-Gobain’s ownership Jewson has developed its offer for customers a huge amount. We’re delighted to be embarking on the next phase of our journey under the new ownership of the Stark Group.

“We’re transforming how we serve our local builders and trade customers from our nationwide Jewson network in line with our commitment to provide a market leading and hassle free customer experience. Equally for national housebuilders we have a growing network of strategically located supply chain hubs that support these customers with the increasingly sustainable solutions they need. Our Jewson Partnership Solutions brand is innovating its offer to help social housing customers provide people with high quality, efficient homes.

“Our unique Build Aviator end-to-end estimating and project management service is taking hassle away for customers and our digital transformation is well under way. With the Stark Group’s support and backing, and with more than 6,200 brilliant colleagues in our Jewson family, we’re confident about the tremendous opportunities in the construction market in the years ahead.”

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