Commerce Commission approves Hawke’s Bay building supplier Tumu’s sale of six stores to PlaceMakers

A major player in the Hawke’s Bay lumber and construction industry, Tumu Group, is selling six of its stores to parent company PlaceMakers.

Tumu stores in Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, Havelock North, Dannevirke and Masterton are
changed hands after the sale was cleared by the Commerce Commission.

The stores sell a variety of building materials and were formerly known as Tumu ITM stores.

Fletcher Distribution Ltd (FDL), which operates PlaceMakers across New Zealand, bought the six stores for an undisclosed sum, along with the Tumu Frame and Truss factory in Hastings.

The move will see more than 200 employees switch to FDL and the sale will close on August 31.

All staff will retain their current employment contracts as part of the transition.

FDL said in a Commerce Commission application that the purchase would help fill a gap in its network because “PlaceMakers currently has a limited presence on the East Coast.”

FDL plans to keep the Tumu brand “as is” for now and has access to the Tumu brand for three years as part of the sales agreement.

Tumu retained ownership of the properties themselves for five of the stores.

Tumu Group – which started in Dannevirke in 1975 and is still owned by the O’Sullivan family – currently employs around 700 people across all of its businesses and brands.

“It is important to be clear that Tumu Timbers (our bin and pallet manufacturer and timber wholesaler) is not included in the sale and it is business as usual,” the manager said. of the Tumu group, Barry O’Sullivan.

“This sale is part of our strategy to focus on our wood manufacturing and processing businesses as well as fund the growth of our Tumu Developments property development business.

“We also have interests in the national distribution of building materials which we will focus on for expansion as well.”

Fletcher Building general manager Bruce McEwen said they are committed to maintaining “the great Tumu culture and strong customer service”.

“We are committed to maintaining current business operations as much as possible,” he said.

“Fletcher Building, through its PlaceMakers business, is vastly underrepresented in the region and currently has no presence in Gisborne or Dannevirke.

“Tumu is a strong brand, with good community involvement and recognition – values ​​we share.”

Meanwhile, the current Tumu building materials store in Havelock North will move to a new site on Martin Place by the end of September.