Travis Perkins has agreed to sell its loss-making Toolstation Benelux business for €1, ending a long-running drag on the builders' merchant's results.

The Northampton-based group said on Tuesday 10 November that it will sell the business as a standalone operation to private equity firm Fidelium Partners, and will make a final capital injection of £35m to strengthen its finances ahead of the handover. Completion is expected before the end of the year, subject to a works council consultation in the Netherlands.

Benelux losses to be stripped out

Toolstation Benelux is expected to make a loss of about £10m in 2026, Travis Perkins said. The business will now be reported as a discontinued operation, so that loss will be excluded from the group's adjusted operating profit.

The Benelux arm has weighed on the group for some time. In the first half of 2026 its revenue fell 6.1% and its adjusted operating loss widened to £7m from £6m a year earlier, while Toolstation UK grew revenue by 2.6% and lifted adjusted operating profit to £22m from £21m.

Focus shifts to the UK business

Travis Perkins said the disposal would support its return to profit growth and free up resources for more value-creating activity, as it concentrates on rebuilding merchanting margins and growing the profitable Toolstation UK business.

The deal follows the group's 2025 sale of Staircraft and continues a pattern of portfolio simplification, with management already in talks with several parties about the Benelux business at the half-year stage. More detail is in the Sharecast report and the TickStock report.