Grafton Group is to buy Belgian firm Binje Ackermans, a six branch builders merchanting business based in Brussels, for €20.5m.
The business trades under the MPRO brand and is a subsidiary of construction giant Saint-Gobain.
Grafton's chief executive Gavin Slark said the purchase provides a solid base for growth in the Belgian merchanting market.
A statement says that MPRO reported revenue of €50m in the financial year to December 2012. The value of its gross assets at the end of last year2 was €20.8m. The business is forecast to operate at breakeven for the year to December 2013.
Grafton, which is a builders merchanting and DIY group with operations in the UK, Ireland and Belgium, delisted from the Irish Stock Exchange last week and moved its listing to London.
In the Irish market, Grafton owns Woodies DIY and Atlantic Homecare.
