Saint-Gobain sells its sanitary, plumbing and heating distribution branch in Scandinavia. A 1.5 billion euro operation which marks the largest acquisition ever made by the Kesko group.
THE leader French building materials announced the sale of all of its sanitary distribution, plumbing and heating activities in Scandinavia At Finnish group Kesko for 1.5 billion euros.
The operation concerns the distribution activities operated in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, mainly under the Dahl brandan emblematic brand acquired by Saint-Gobain in 2004. With nearly 2 billion euros in turnover in 2025, some 2,700 employees and a network of 190 points of sale, this branch constitutes one of the major players in professional distribution in the Nordic countries.
A strategic sale as part of the transformation of Saint-Gobain
For Saint-Gobain, this sale goes far beyond the simple framework of a financial transaction: it is part of a long-term strategy aimed at gradually reshaping the profile of the group in order to concentrate its resources on the activities deemed to create the most value and the most promising in terms of growth.
The transaction, which must still receive the approval of the competition authorities as well as that of staff representative bodies, should not be finalized until the beginning of 2027.
This “important” sale is part of the strategy “aimed at permanently optimizing” Saint-Gobain’s “business profile”, declared Benoit Bazin, chairman and CEO of the group, here in photo, in a press release. © Éric Piermont / AFP
This announcement comes just a few months after the presentation of a particularly ambitious plan. End of 2025, Saint-Gobain had indeed indicated that it wanted to carry out a significant rotation of its asset portfoliocombining acquisitions and disposals, representing more than 20% of its turnover by 2030, in order to “continue to strengthen growth, profitability and value creation“.
In an economic environment marked by the slowdown in several construction markets in Europe, the group is continuing its strategy of moving upmarket and refocusing on high added value solutions intended for sustainable buildings and energy performance.
Kesko completes the largest acquisition in its history
On the buyer’s side, this operation also has a historic dimension. Moreover, the Finnish group Kesko qualifies this acquisition as the biggest “transaction of its history“. Thanks to theintegration of Saint-Gobain’s Scandinavian activitiesthe Finnish group intends to significantly accelerate its growth and strengthen its presence in a market considered strategic.
The operation should in particular contribute to achieving a particularly ambitious objective: bringing the group’s turnover to 20 billion euros by 2030, compared to 12.5 billion euros recorded in 2025.
Through this 1.5 billion euro transaction, two major groups in the building sector are thus pursuing different but converging strategies: one seeks to strengthen its specialization and profitability, while the other accelerates its external growth to become a key player in professional distribution in Northern Europe.
–Gobain
