Ireland's DCC buys British fuel distributor

DUBLIN, March 7 (Reuters) - Irish business services group DCC Plc (DCC.I) (DCC.L) said on Friday it had bought British oil distributor Southern Counties Fuels Holdings Ltd. (SCFH) for 9.75 million euros ($15.02 million) in cash.

DCC, whose activities range from distributing liquefied petroleum gas to manufacturing cosmetics, said in a statement it had spent 95 million euros on acquiring oil distribution companies in Britain in the financial year ending March 2008.

"The acquisition of SCFH represents a further step in DCC's strategy of consolidating the fragmented oil distribution business in Britain," DCC Executive Chairman Jim Flavin said in a statement.

SCFH, which operates in the southeast of England, sells heating and transport fuels to domestic, commercial, agricultural and transport customers. It has a fleet of 60 road tankers and 135 employees, DCC said. (Reporting by Jonathan Saul, editing by Will Waterman)