The Home Depot will buy construction supply distributor Hughes Supply for $3.47 billion to expand its business-to-business division.
Atlanta-based Home Depot will add Hughes to its Home Depot Supply division, doubling that unit’s sales to about $12 billion annually. Home Depot Supply serves professional contractors and builders. Orlando-based Hughes has 500 locations in 40 states, and serves a wide base of local municipalities and government groups.
The deal is expected to close as soon as regulatory approval is given.
The news comes on the heels of Home Depot’s purchase of Chem-Dry and its franchise of 4,000 carpet and upholstery cleaning services (2,500 of them in the U.S.). Home Depot will fold Chem-Dry into its Home Depot’s At-Home Services division, complementing its installations services, especially flooring: Home Depot is the largest installer of flooring in the U.S. The division posted double-digit growth in 2005, making it one of Home Depot’s fastest-growing units.
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