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August 21, 2006

RONA Inc., Squamish, BC, a Canadian distributor and retailer of hardware, home improvement and gardening products, has acquired British Columbia-based Mountain Building Centres Limited.

Mountain Building Centres is a supplier of building materials, home improvement and hardware. Mountain Building Centres is a private company and employs 60 full-time staff members and posted sales of $22 million in 2005.

Mountain Building Centres operates three retail outlets in British Columbia, located in Squamish (39009 Discovery Way), Whistler (1350 Alpha Lake Road) and Pemberton (7456 Prospect Street). Currently operating under the Tim-BR Mart banner, the store network includes approximately 61,000 square feet of combined retail/warehouse space and 7 acres of outdoor lumberyard storage. Lumber and building materials represent approximately 70% of the chain's sales.

RONA believes that the acquisition of Mountain Building Centres will generate a number of significant strategic advantages and will allow the company to: increase sales to businesses, industries, and institutions in BC's Sea to Sky Corridor; expand its expertise in this field, with the addition of an experienced team; and achieve recurring annual synergies proportional to those achieved with earlier acquisitions.

RONA President and CEO Robert Dutton said that "adding Mountain Building Centres will strengthen RONA's network north of Vancouver and allow us to better serve the commercial, industrial and institutional sector as well as the home renovator market in the thriving Sea to Sky country. Moreover, as a National Partner of the VANCOUVER 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, it is only fitting that RONA grow its presence in the region that will be hosting a significant portion of the Games. Together with the Mountain Building Centres team, we will proudly lend a hand to help build Canada's games."

The acquisition of Mountain Building Centres follows three other acquisitions announced by RONA since the beginning of the year. In July, RONA completed the acquisition of Curtis Lumber Limited, a chain operating six retail outlets in British Columbia and, in April, 51% of operating businesses of Matériaux Coupal with nine points of sale in the Greater Montreal Area. The company also acquired in March a chain of eight Chester Dawe stores in Newfoundland and Labrador. These four transactions have allowed RONA to add more than $306 million in retail sales to its network and welcome more than 1,060 new employees.

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