Posted on May 12, 2014 10:45:58 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
GOKONGWEI-LED Robinsons Retail
Holdings, Inc. has bought into a Visayas-based hardware chain allowing it to
expand its market beyond those improving their homes to building contractors.
The company, through its subsidiary Robinson’s Handyman, Inc., acquired
a 67% stake in A.M. Builders’ Depot through a memorandum of agreement signed
recently, it told the stock exchange yesterday.
The hardware chain operates 17 stores
in Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, and other key cities in the Visayas
region.
A.M. Builders would be the latest
brand under Robinsons Retail store lineup that includes Handyman Do it Best,
True Value and Howards Storage World -- all three catering mostly to household
owners.
“The acquisition places Robinsons
Retail in a unique position, giving Robinsons Retail a strong presence in both
the DIY (do-it-yourself) hardware and builders (big box) hardware retail
formats,” the retail company said in a statement filed with regulators.
Robinsons said its DIY business will
make available to A.M. Builders’ Depot its home improvement products, while the
appliance section in the latter’s stores can be complemented by Robinson
Retail’s home and kitchen appliances and audio and video products.
“The acquisition will be a good
addition to our retail portfolio as it will serve another segment of the fast
growing retail market of the country,” Robina Gokongwei-Pe, president and chief
operating officer of Robinsons Retail, said in the statement.
Robinsons Retail’s DIY business posted
a 14.5% increase in net sales to P7.1 billion last year, accounting for 10.5%
of the group’s P67.2 billion consolidated net sales. -- D. J. Magturo
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