French building materials group Saint-Gobain has bolstered its distribution arm with a series of acquisitions.

It bought a builders merchant in the Channel Islands from the Norman Group, giving it its first foothold in the region. It employs 276 people in four branches and generates sales of about 拢34m.

In the Netherlands the group acquired a plumbing and heating wholesaler called Galvano Groothandel. The company has 177 employees and sales in the region of 拢56m.

In Germany, Saint-Gobain has picked up Schulte Tiefbau, a civil engineering distributor with 13 branches. It has sales of 拢41m and 150 staff.

The acquisitions will add about 拢131m to Saint-Gobain鈥檚 annual sales. Its building distribution operations had an estimated turnover of 拢11.6bn in 2006.

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