EXEL Industries, the parent company of Hozelock, has acquired an 81% majority stake in Devaux, a French family-owned group specialising in the manufacture and sale of gardening tools. 

The Devaux group posted 2022 revenue of around €12 million and employs around 50 people at its production site in Tinchebray-Bocage (Normandy) and logistics facility in Savigny, near Lyon. The acquisition will enable EXEL Industries to step up its development in the consumer garden equipment market.

The Devaux Group was formed in 1992 following the takeover of Duchesnay, a manufacturer of graden tools founded in 1923, by Établissements Devaux, a company trading in garden tools founded in 1964. The Group therefore has longstanding expertise in this field.

The Group offers a wide variety of products spanning nine categories (soil, grass, wood, pruning, snow, flowers, balconies and terraces, watering and chimney accessories) in addition to a range of gardening tools for children. Marketing both own brand and retailer sub-brand products, the Devaux Group is also strongly represented in garden centers, DYI stores and supermarkets.

Through this acquisition, EXEL Industries, which already has a strong position in the garden equipment sector through established brands Hozelock, G.F., Berthoud and Tricoflex, will bolster its Leisure business by offering a new range of hand-held tools.

Marc Ballu, CEO in charge of the garden activity for EXEL Industries, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Devaux group into our Garden business. This great family enterprise promoting French manufacture offers great potential for developing our business. Their responsiveness, flexibility, capacity for innovation and quality of service in response to customer demand are remarkable. Jean-Luc Devaux, the man behind this success alongside his teams, will be the CEO. Our two companies are close and share very similar values. It is with great pleasure that we welcome this talented team.”

Jean-Luc Devaux, Devaux group Board Chairman, said:  “I am thrilled with this deal, which is a major milestone in the development of our organization. I am convinced that this transaction will prove highly beneficial for our company and will open up new prospects for growth. We are proud to join a family-owned group with which we share core values: operational excellence, service culture, respect for the environment and a passion for French industrial know-how.”

The Devaux group will become a subsidiary of Hozelock EXEL and will operate alongside the other brands of the EXEL Industries Group Garden business: Hozelock, G.F., Berthoud and Tricoflex. Jean-Luc Devaux, currently Devaux group Chairman of the Board, will be Chief Executive Officer of the new entity.

This new stage of EXEL Industries’ development is in keeping with the Group’s overall strategy of positioning itself as a leader in all its markets though both organic growth and acquisitions.