The sale of Travis Perkins P&H to HIG Capital is expected to be completed within the next three months.
Alongside the recent demerger of Wickes, the DIY hardware chain, the sale of P&H represents the completion of Travis Perkins’ restructuring that has been planned since December 2018 but interrupted by other events.
Headquartered in Northamptonshire, P&H operates under its primary trading brands City Plumbing Supplies (CPS) and Plumbing Trade Supplies (PTS), with more than 350 branches across the UK and Ireland, alongside several specialist online outlets including The Underfloor Heating Store, Direct Heating Spares, PlumbNation, and National Shower Spares.
In 2020, P&H generated revenue of £1,041m, adjusted operating profit of £17.9m and a loss before tax of £1.7m. Gross assets at 31st December 2020 were £580m.
The new owner, HIG Capital, is a Miami-based private equity firm with US $36bn of equity capital under management.
P&H chief executive Dave Evans said: “The sale to HIG is great news for P&H and its stakeholders. We are recognised as a market leader across many of our businesses and the categories they operate in and I am very excited to work with the team at HIG to capitalise on the enormous potential for growth we have within the UK and Ireland. We are well positioned to push forward with our plans for growth by developing more customer-focused propositions delivered by over 3,000 dedicated team members. I look forward to building an even stronger business in the coming years.”
Markus Noe-Nordberg, managing director of the HIG team that led the transaction, said: “HIG has had great success investing in speciality distribution assets, and we will use this experience to support management in maximising the company’s potential.”
Travis Perkins intends to return the net proceeds of the sale to its shareholders through a combination of a 35 pence per share special dividend and, subject to market conditions, a share buyback programme.
Chief executive Nick Roberts said: "Today marks another important step on our journey to becoming a simplified group, focused on our market leading trade businesses. A significant amount of work has gone into improving the P&H business over the last few years and I am sure that the business will continue to make excellent progress under the ownership of HIG.
“I would like to thank all of our colleagues in the P&H business for their commitment and hard work whilst part of the Travis Perkins Group, particularly during what has been an extremely challenging year, and I wish them all the best for the future.
“Following on from the demerger of Wickes in April 2021, the group has now executed the planned actions to simplify its portfolio and the strength of the group's balance sheet enables us to return the net proceeds to shareholders.
“Looking forward, the group has a bright future as the leading provider of building products in the UK and we look forward to setting out our plans later in the summer to continue to drive growth."
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