Jewson has been sold by its French owner to private equity for £740million.
Construction business Saint-Gobain sold the builders’ merchant and its 600 branches to Danish building materials business Stark, which was bought by private equity giant CVC last year.
Jewson – founded in 1836 by George Jewson – is the latest firm to be snapped up by private equity, an industry that has been on the rampage over the past 18 months.
Builders’ merchant Jewson and its 600 branches has been sold to private equity-owned Danish building materials business Stark
The sales comes at a time when British customers are facing rising inflation and interest rates, meaning more are struggling to secure mortgages and do up their homes.
But Soren Olesen, chief executive at Stark – which serves more than 260,000 customers across the Nordic countries, Germany and Austria, said that despite the market pressures, he was reassured by the UK’s stable renovation market.
Saint-Gobain acquired Jewson in 2000 and the company is expected to generate sales of £2.3billion this year.