Acquisition Update

Wolseley PLC
24 April 2006

NEWS RELEASE
24 April 2006


                                  Wolseley plc
                               Acquisition update
    £42 million spent on four further acquisitions taking total for the year
                        so far to a record £665 million
                                        

Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and
heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building
materials, announced today four further acquisitions for an aggregate
consideration of £42 million. In a full year, these four acquisitions are
expected to add approximately £93 million in additional revenue.

Since the beginning of the financial year on 1 August 2005, a total of 39
businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for an aggregate
consideration of approximately £665 million. These 39 acquisitions are expected
to add approximately £1,089 million to Group revenue in a full year. Goodwill
and intangible assets related to these acquisitions is estimated to be around
£427 million. These totals do not include the recommended offer for Brandon Hire
plc which was announced on 28 March 2006.


North America

On 11 April 2006, Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. ('Ferguson') acquired Pipe
Products, Inc. ('Pipe Products') a pipe distributor, from Steve Tino and Steve
Kushner. Pipe Products operates six facilities across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana
and conducts business in three principal market segments: mechanical/industrial,
fire fabrication and process chemical/petroleum. In the year ended 30 April 2005
Pipe Products had revenue of $60.5 million (£34.6 million) and gross assets of
$12.4 million (£7.1 million) at that date.

On 17 April 2006, Stock Building Supply ('Stock') acquired the fixed assets and
inventory of the wholesale division ('Wholesale Division') of Davis Homes, LLC
('Davis Homes'). Based in Indianapolis, Wholesale Division is the only supplier
of roof trusses, wall panels, door assemblies, framing lumber, windows, sub
flooring, trim, roofing and sheathing to Davis Homes. As part of the
acquisition, Stock will enter into a supply agreement with Davis Homes. In the
year ended 31 December 2005 Wholesale Division had revenue of $19.4 million
(£11.1 million) and gross assets of $1.7 million (£1.0 million) at that date.


Europe

On 19 April 2006, Wolseley UK acquired K&R Building Supplies Limited ('K&R') a
builders' merchant, from Kay Clackworthy and Peter Clackworthy. K&R operates
from a one acre site close to the centre of Penzance, Cornwall. In the year
ended 31 March 2005 K&R had revenue of £3.0 million and gross assets of £100,000
at that date.

On 21 April 2006 Wolseley UK acquired AC Electrical Limited ('AC Electrical') an
electrical wholesalers, from John Kelly, Michael Kelly, Lydia Kelly, David Bell
and Richard Rose. AC Electrical targets small to medium sized electrical
contractors. It operates from 40 branches with geographic coverage stretching
southwards from Leeds and Manchester complementing the William Wilson branches,
acquired in November 2005, which are located in Scotland and the north of
England. In the year ended 31 March 2005 AC Electrical had revenue of £44.4
million and gross assets of £7.8 million at that date. Following this
acquisition, Wolseley UK has 66 stand alone electrical branches.

The divisional split of the total acquisition spend since 1 August 2005 is:

Division                       No. of Acquisitions            Spend
                                                             £ Million
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe                                  16                     308
North America                           23                     357
               TOTAL                    39                     665


Charlie Banks, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said:

'We are delighted to announce these new acquisitions which will further
strengthen our presence in Europe and North America. They support our strategy
of growing the business through increased product and geographic diversity to
provide a platform for future organic growth.'


ENQUIRIES:

Investors/Analysts:

Guy Stainer                                0118 929 8744
Head of Investor Relations                 07739 778187

John English                               001 513 771 9000
Director, Investor Relations North America 001 513 328 4900

Media:
Penny Studholme                            0118 929 8886
Director of Corporate Communications

Brunswick                                  020 7404 5959

Andrew Fenwick
Nina Coad




Exchange Rates

The following exchange rate has been used for the acquisition noted above:
£1 = $1.75.



Certain statements included in this announcement may be forward-looking and may
involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking
statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, projections
relating to results of operations and financial conditions and the Company's
plans and objectives for future operations including, without limitation,
discussions of the Company's business and financial plans, expected future
revenues and expenditures, investments and disposals, risks associated with
changes in economic conditions, the strength of the plumbing and heating and
building materials market in North America and Europe, fluctuations in product
prices and changes in exchange and interest rates. All forward-looking
statements in this respect are based upon information known to the Company on
the date of this announcement. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. It is not reasonably possible to
itemise all of the many factors and events that could cause the Company's
forward-looking statements to be incorrect or that could otherwise have a
material adverse effect on the future operations or results of the Company.




Notes to Editors

Wolseley plc is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and
heating products and a leading supplier of building materials to professional
contractors in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group revenues for
the year ended 31 July 2005 were approximately £11.3 billion and operating
profit, before amortisation of acquired intangibles, was £708 million. Wolseley
has more than 65,000 employees operating in 14 countries namely: UK, USA, 
France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech 
Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark. Wolseley is listed on the 
London and New York Stock Exchanges (LSE: WOS.L, NYSE: WOS) and is in the FTSE 
100 index of listed companies.

                                   -- ENDS --




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