KEY POINTS:
Fair Dinkum! Now the Kiwis are building Aussie blokes' sheds.
Fletcher Building has bought an Australian kitset house, shed and garage builder.
Jonathan Ling, Fletcher's chief executive, said yesterday Fletchers had acquired AG&S Building Systems and Hi Tech, which trade as Fair Dinkum Homes and Sheds. The acquisition had a gross revenue of about $10 million, Ling said.
The firm makes everything from backyard blokes' sheds to Quaker-style barns, carports, industrial/commercial buildings and farm sheds.
Fair Dinkum, which sold 17,500 buildings last year, says it has more than 120 distributors throughout Australia and promotes itself to customers as "100 per cent Australian-owned".
Fair Dinkum's main business is shed design. It offers a wide range of pre-engineered building design packages including garages, carports, rural barns and light industrial buildings, which it licenses to its distributor network. Fair Dinkum's gross revenue comes mainly from licensing fees.
Ling said Fletcher already had a close relationship with Fair Dinkum via Stramit, which was part of Fletcher's steel division.
Fletcher said the acquisition positioned Stramit as market leader of pre-engineered buildings in the Australian market worth $600 million a year.
Fletcher Building was up 34c to $12.50.
