Bunnings completes takeover of family-business Beaumont Tiles
Bunnings has completed the acquisition of Beaumont Tiles. Photo: AAP
Hardware giant Bunnings has completed its takeover of family business Beaumont Tiles as part of a wider push to win more customers among professional tradespeople.
Bunnings group managing director Mike Schneider said the deal would help Bunnings provide a better service to builders and people working in the flooring trade as its customers would now have access to Beaumont Tiles’ specialist design knowledge and extensive hard surfaces range.
The 61-year-old family business will continue to be run as a separate and distinct business and will retain its national support office in Adelaide.
“The Beaumont Tiles team and franchisees are known for their passion and dedication, and we’re excited to welcome them to the Bunnings family,” Mr Schneider said.
Bunnings struck a deal with Beaumont Tiles in April and was given the green light to proceed with the purchase by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in September.
ACCC chair Rod Sims said he initially had misgivings about the takeover before realising that Bunnings was “not a strong competitor in tile sales”.
“This is not a case of a close competitor buying up its rival,” Mr Sims said in a statement.
It comes after Bunnings bought Adelaide Tools in 2020 and announced in June that it was opening up to 75 stores under a new brand name targeting professional tradespeople.
Bunnings said it would open the 75 new stores over the next three to five years.
As TND reported in June, Bunnings has applied to trademark brands such as Onya Tools, Dontas Tools and Benchmark Tools – a hint at the eventual name of the new tradie-focused business.
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) retail expert Gary Mortimer told TND in April that Bunnings wanted to become a leader in the $1.5 billion professional trade and tools market, but realised its name was holding it back.
“There’s a perception, broadly, that Bunnings is still very much a consumer-based handyman business,” Mr Mortimer told TND.
“Adelaide Tools is really clearly positioning towards a segment which is purely trade.”
