As part of its continued growth and expansion, self-described “online builders’ merchant” CMO Group PLC is set to diversify into the plumbing and heating market following the acquisition of JTM Plumbing in a deal worth up to £5.7m.
Consistent with CMO’s growth ambitions and strategy to be able to “offer everything needed by the homeowner or tradesperson to build a home”, the acquisition establishes a foothold for the business in the approximately £800m online plumbing and heating market and is described as highly complementary to its existing range of specialist categories.
Founded in 2007, JTM Plumbing is a pure play digital retailer of first fix plumbing and heating supplies including copper pipe and fittings, plastic pipe and pushfit fittings, water filters, heating (thermostats/tanks and heaters/radiator valves), lagging, insulation and accessories, based in Darlington, County Durham. CMO’s acquisition of the company will extend the company’s product offering and, in keeping with its other trading platforms, will be marketed under the name www.plumbingsuperstore.co.uk alongside its broad portfolio of online ‘superstores’ selling roofing, windows, doors, insulation, drainage, and tiles.
CMO CEO Dean Murray said: “The acquisition of JTM Plumbing is exciting for us: not only does it take us into a new category, expanding our capability into heating and plumbing products, but it also expands our addressable market to a swathe of professional tradespeople that we had not targeted previously. It also takes us another step further to being a one stop shop for customers and enhances our ability to continue disrupting and revolutionising the underpenetrated online market for building materials.”
With a clear aim to both disrupt and develop the online the traditional, predominantly offline, builders’ merchant market where online penetration is currently only 4% of a £27bn market, earlier successful acquisitions completed by the company include the purchase of Door Web in 2018 and Total Tiles in December 2020. Another key milestone for CMO came in July 2021 when it became a publicly traded company after listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
Charles Russell Speechlys provided legal advice on the deal for CMO led by Corporate Partner, Rebecca Burford.
