Building supplier SAL Ltd. has been sold for more than $21 million to a consortium headed by Phoenix Stores owner Wendall Brown and lawyer Paul King.

SAL, which owns a cement and block making business and hardware stores in Devonshire and Southampton and was founded and has been run by John (Chucky) Berg, said yesterday that 95.9 percent of the shares in the company have been sold to Phillips Holdings Ltd.

Trading in SAL shares on the Bermuda Stock Exchange was suspended yesterday.

All the current directors of the company have resigned and have been replaced by Mr. Brown, Mr. King, who is also president of restaurant group Long Botham Boats, Simon Van deWeg, former Ernst & Young senior partner Anthony Joaquin, surgeon Dr. Wilbert Warner, Bermuda Security Group owner Herman Tucker, Lesseline Brown and JoAnn King.

SAL chief executive officer Bill Morrison will remain in his role, with responsibility for managing the SAL operations.

?We believe this is a good deal for our customers and for our shareholders, the vast majority of whom considered and approved the acquisition,? Mr. Morrison said. ?Our customers can be reassured that SAL will be continuing business as usual for the Bermuda community.

?There will be a seamless transition of ownership and our existing management and staff will continue to provide Bermuda with the great products and services that they are accustomed to from SAL.?

In a joint statement, the new Board of Directors said: ?SAL management is an extremely well-regarded and successful business in Bermuda, and customers will be pleased to know that they can continue to rely on SAL for all their building needs.

?We look forward to working with SAL management and employees and thank the departing Board of Directors for their sound management up to this date.?

SAL has benefited from the construction boom of recent years, recording a $1.5 million increase in revenues to $15 million in the six months to August 31, 2005.

Net operating income rose by 2.5 percent to $2.7 million, but an increase in general and administrative expenses of $120,000 over the corresponding period reduced the net operating income to $ 1.819 million, a deterioration of 2.9 percent.

In the most recent full financial year, SAL recorded a net profit of $5.75 million.

Net income from operations was $3 million, an increase of 12 percent on the previous year, with the additional $2.7 million coming from the one-time sale of various lots of land in the Southampton Industrial Park, which were not integral to the company?s operations.

SAL went public in the early 1980s, but has been one of the less frequently traded stocks on the BSX, with its shares last trading in 2001 for $12.

However, recent bids for the shares have risen, in part because of the company?s generous dividends.

Prior to yesterday?s announcement, there was a bid for the shares of $65, but the asking price was $150.

The company was offering a 100 percent yield on its shares, with a dividend of $12 a share.

Its book value at the $12 a share price, was very low at 0.23 percent, meaning that its assets had an estimated book value of $13.9 million. However, because investments and property are often recorded for their purchase price rather than at market value, it is likely that the assets were worth considerably more.