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Wickes Group plc has agreed to acquire 51% of the issued share capital of Gas Fast Limited, the parent company of solar installations company Solar Fast, for £5.1m.
The acquisition is designed to get Wickes into the market for home energy systems, initially with solar and gas boilers and, in due course, air source heat pumps and other services.
Wickes sees opportunities in the fragmented market for domestic solar installations, which is forecast to grow from £1.1bn in 2024 to £1.5bn in 2028 as homeowners and landlords retrofit their properties to reduce energy bills.
Wickes chief executive David Wood said: “This acquisition enables us to accelerate our design & installation growth lever, capitalising on our expertise in installing major home improvement projects.
"The Wickes brand has been trusted by home improvers for over 50 years and with Solar Fast as part of our proposition we will be perfectly placed to support them with their energy saving plans."
Solar Fast founder and chief executive David Draper will continue to run the business in collaboration with the Wickes team.
He said: "This is tremendous news for Solar Fast. We're a family business and our vision has always been to become the number one provider in the UK for quality domestic solar installations and with the Wickes brand behind us, we are closer to achieving that vision. I, along with all of the Solar Fast team, are very much looking forward to being part of the Wickes family and to working together to make UK homeowners more energy independent."
Over 2022 and 2023 Solar Fast installed 3,700 solar projects in customers' homes. In the 12 months to 30th April 2023 it generated revenue of £33.1m and reported profit before tax of £3.9m.
Wickes has an option to purchase the remaining 49% of the issued share capital of the business over the next five years.
Wickes has also reported steady results for 2023 showing a 0.3% dip in sales to £1,554m and 2% growth in pre-tax profit to £41.1m.
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