Wickes to buy 13 Focus stores

Travis Perkins, the owners of the UK DIY chain Wickes, have agreed the purchase of the leaseholds of 13 Focus stores from the administrators Ernst & Young for € 9.52 mio. The deal includes the 345 Focus store staff. Travis Perkins have confirmed that the stores will be converted to the Wickes format by the end of 2011, bringing their portfolio to a total of 216 stores. Geoff Cooper, CEO of Travis Perkins, said: "The acquisition of these 13 stores, cherry-picked from over 100 potential locations, further expands our Wickes business and will help us to continue our gains in like-for-like and total market share." Focus used to own the Wickes chain, which they purchased in 2000 before selling it for £ 900 mio to Travis Perkins in 2005. The sale comes on the heels of the announcement last week that Kingfisher would be buying up to 31 stores to convert to their B&Q chain format. Ernst & Young stated that they were in “detailed discussions with a number of interested parties” over the sale of the remaining 134 stores. Wickes intends to rebadge the 13 newly acquired Focus stores by year’s end.