Wolseley aims to flush out Bathstore sale
HEATING and plumbing supplier Wolseley has held a beauty parade to appoint advisors on a sale of its Bathstore retail chain, according to City sources.
The 160-store chain is at odds with the rest of Wolseley’s portfolio, which includes Plumb Center and principally caters for trade customers.
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Bathstore sells bathroom suites and hardware such as taps, competing with chains including B&Q, Homebase and Wickes.
In March the group’s chief executive Ian Meakins earmarked but did not name 19 of the group’s 41 businesses to be offloaded if they failed to perform.
Wolseley was left with huge debts after the building trade dried up following the credit crunch.
Bathstores’s underlying pre-tax profits more than halved to £4.5 million in the year to July 31, 2009.