The £220m revenue specialist distributor for plumbing, heating and sanitary products consists of a network of 130 outlets employing 840 staff.

The majority of the Graham outlets, as well as the Graham brand name and website name will be divested to UK Plumbing Supplies, and a smaller number of branches will be divested to Wolseley.

The transactions are expected to be completed over the coming weeks and are part of Saint-Gobain’s continued streamlining strategy to enhance growth and profitability.

This deal comes just a week after Irish building materials group Grafton revealed it had agreed a deal to sell its British-based traditional merchanting business for £520m to Huws Gray.

Under the deal, UK-based Huws Gray, which is controlled by equity funds managed by Blackstone, will buy Buildbase, Civils & Lintels, PDM Buildbase, the Timber Group, Bathroom Distribution Group, Frontline and NDI.

Last year this part of the business delivered £828m revenue, generating an operating profit of £19m.

In May, another national builders’ merchant chain, Travis Perkins, agreed the sale of its plumbing & heating distribution business to a private equity firm for £325m.

The deal with HIG Capital for the £1bn revenue P&H operation is now expected to be finalised next month.

Following on from the demerger of Wickes in April 2021, Travis Perkins has now simplified its portfolio, strengthening the group’s balance sheet to also return net proceeds to shareholders.

In March private equity investor Cairngorm Capital, which owns Grant & Stone, bought RGB Building Supplies, Buildit Gloster and Total Plumbing Supplies, to create one of the largest independent builders’ merchant groups in southern England. 

The group will have 74 branches stretching from West London to Cornwall, with over 1,000 employees and revenues approaching £250m.

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