Home Depot to buy National Waterworks for $1.35bn

07/20/05 - newratings.com

NEW YORK, July 20 (newratings.com) – Leading home improvement products retailer Home Depot Inc (HD) is acquiring National Waterworks Holdings Inc, a closely held supplier of pipes, valves and other water-distribution and repair equipment, for $1.35 billion in cash, according to the Wall Street Journal.

National Waterworks is principally owned by a private equity affiliate of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) and Thomas H Lee Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. The Wall Street Journal quoted Joe DeAngelo, president of Home Depot’s Supply unit, as saying that National Waterworks’ business has strong growth potential taking into consideration the expected increase in the demand for water infrastructure systems in the forthcoming years. According to MarketWatch, the deal is expected to close around August 30. National Waterworks, which sells directly to cities and contractors, had posted $1.5 billion in sales for the latest financial year.