GRAFTON, the Woodie's DIY group, has acquired the builders merchants, direct sales and casting divisions of A R Hendricks, a London building materials company, for £2.7 million sterling. The acquisition, said Grafton, further strengthened its growing British base and "positions its operations to take advantage of the market recovery".

The businesses acquired recorded a turnover of £13.9 million and operating profit of £440,000 in the year to November 30th 1996. The businesses had been profitable even through the British recession. The first half of last year had been very weak but there had been a recovery in the second half which had continued into this year.

Net assets of the businesses amount to £600,000. The goodwill will be more than £2 million.

The builders' merchants division acquired trades as Hendricks Lovell and is a specialist heavy duty builders merchant with one branch in Hayes, west London. The direct sales division trading as A R H Direct is a direct sales operation for heavy duty building materials. The castings division, trading as Hendricks Casting supplies a range of civil engineering products to the construction sector.