Wolseley Group acquires majority share of CP Hart

Merchant group Wolseley has acquired a majority share of luxury bathroom specialist CP Hart for an undisclosed sum as part of its drive to expand its bathroom business into the premium sector.

CP Hart was founded in 1937 and currently has 16 showrooms in London and the Home Counties. The investment by Wolseley is said to allow CP Hart to accelerate its ambitious growth plans and benefit from the knowledge and experience of other Wolseley businesses.

Wolseley said that there would be a seamless transition and that all CP Hart showrooms will continue to operate as normal and that there will be no change for customers.

Current chairman Richard Reynolds will remain with the business.

Reynolds said of the acquisition: “Becoming part of the Wolseley family, with its strong commitment to growing its position in the bathroom market, is a great result for our business and we are confident that Wolseley will help CP Hart to realise its ambitious expansion plans.” 

Wolseley chief executive Simon Oakland said: “At Wolseley, we’ve known and admired CP Hart for a long time and we see this move as a valuable addition to our growing bathroom business.

“This acquisition takes us into the premium bathroom sector across both retail and commercial customers and we will work closely with the existing management team to capitalise on this opportunity including providing further investment to the CP Hart business.”

Wolseley has been expanding its presence in the bathrooms sector and in March this year acquired distributor Ideal Bathrooms, heating and bathrooms systems specialist DHS and commercial washroom and bathroom products supplier Neville Lumb from Saint-Gobain.

CP Hart was since December 2007 owned by Charco, which was set up by Richard Reynolds and Kevin Ohle, who acquired the company from Nobia.

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