American Standard Announces Agreement to Sell Bath and Kitchen Business to Bain Capital for $1.755 Billion
23 Luglio 2007 - 3:44PM
PR Newswire (US)
PISCATAWAY, N.J., July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American
Standard Companies Inc. (NYSE:ASD) today announced that it has
signed a definitive agreement to sell the company's worldwide Bath
and Kitchen products business to funds advised by Bain Capital
Partners, LLC, a leading global private investment firm, for $1.755
billion in cash. Upon completion of the sale, Bain Capital will
acquire all of American Standard's Bath and Kitchen business with
2006 annual sales of $2.4 billion, 26,000 employees and 54
production facilities in 23 countries worldwide. The business
manufactures and markets industry-leading products under brand
names such as American Standard(R), Ideal Standard(R), Armitage
Shanks(R), Porcher(R), Jado(R), Ceramica Dolomite(R) and Vidima(R).
The sale closing is expected to occur early in the fourth quarter.
The company intends to use proceeds of the sale primarily to
repurchase common stock and reduce debt to keep the company at
investment-grade standards. The sale is subject to normal
regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Shareholder
approval is not required. The buyer has secured firm financing
commitments. On Feb. 1, 2007, American Standard announced plans to
separate its three businesses by selling Bath and Kitchen, spinning
off Vehicle Control Systems and retaining its largest business, Air
Conditioning Systems and Services. Today's announcement is the
final step needed for completion of those plans following the
spinoff of Vehicle Control Systems as an independent publicly
traded company to be known as WABCO, which is scheduled for July 31
at 11:59 p.m. EDT. In March, the company sold Venesta Washroom
Systems, which was part of Bath and Kitchen. Combined with Venesta,
proceeds for the sale of Bath and Kitchen total $1.92 billion.
Following the spinoff and the sale, American Standard Companies
will change its name to Trane. Trane is the flagship brand of its
global Air Conditioning Systems and Services business, which last
year generated sales of $6.8 billion. Trane will retain the
American Standard brand name for its heating, ventilating and air
conditioning (HVAC) and related products, while the newly formed
Bath and Kitchen business will retain the name for its markets.
"This is a major milestone in our plan to separate American
Standard into three focused, better understood companies," said
Fred Poses, American Standard chairman and CEO. "We believe that
Bain Capital's all-cash offer provides excellent value for our
shareowners. Bath and Kitchen is a global market leader, with size,
global reach and organizational talent. It has a rich history and a
great future for its customers, employees and new owners." "This is
a market-leading global company with a wonderful heritage, a strong
portfolio of brands, deep customer relationships and an experienced
management team," said Steve Barnes, a managing director at Bain
Capital based in Boston. "We look forward to supporting the
management team and dedicated employees in realizing the company's
full potential through continued operational improvements, further
enhancing and leveraging its strong family of brands, and
accelerating growth," added Walid Sarkis, a London-based managing
director at Bain Capital. American Standard Companies is completing
plans to spin off WABCO. Regular trading of WABCO's common stock
(WBC) is set to begin Aug. 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. It is
currently traded on a "when issued" basis. American Standard's
financial advisor for the Bath and Kitchen sale is Lazard. Its
legal counsel is Skadden Arps. For Bain Capital, Bank of America,
N.A. and Credit Suisse provided financing, Lehman Brothers acted as
financial advisors, Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal
counsel, and PricewaterhouseCoopers provided transaction advisory
services. ABOUT AMERICAN STANDARD COMPANIES: American Standard is
an $11.2 billion global manufacturer with market- leading positions
in three businesses: air conditioning systems and services, sold
under the Trane(R) and American Standard(R) brands for commercial,
institutional and residential buildings; bath and kitchen products,
sold under such brands as American Standard(R) and Ideal
Standard(R); and vehicle control systems, including electronic
braking and air suspension systems, sold under the WABCO(R) name to
the world's leading manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks, buses, SUVs
and luxury cars. The company employs approximately 62,000 people
and has manufacturing operations in 28 countries. American Standard
is included in both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones
Sustainability North America Index, which recognizes the top 20
percent of leaders in corporate sustainability in North America.
ABOUT BAIN CAPITAL PARTNERS: Bain Capital
(http://www.baincapital.com/) is a global private investment firm
that manages several pools of capital including private equity,
high-yield assets, mezzanine capital and public equity with
approximately $50 billion in assets under management. Since its
inception in 1984, Bain Capital has made private equity investments
and add-on acquisitions in over 240 companies around the world,
including such leading companies as Dunkin' Brands, Sealy, Toys "R"
Us, Michaels Stores, Burger King, SigmaKalon, Bombardier
Recreational Products, Samsonite, Sensata Technologies and Staples.
Headquartered in Boston, Bain Capital has offices in New York,
London, Munich, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Comments in this
news release contain certain forward-looking statements, which are
based on management's good faith expectations and belief concerning
future developments. Forward-looking statements can be identified
by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "plans,"
"strategy," "prospects," "estimate," "project," "anticipate,"
"intends" and other words of similar meaning. Actual results may
differ materially from these expectations. American Standard does
not undertake any obligation to update such forward- looking
statements. Additional information is available at
http://www.americanstandard.com/. DATASOURCE: American Standard
Companies Inc. CONTACT: Media, Skip Colcord, +1-732-980-3065, , or
Shelly London, +1-732-980-6175, , or Investors, Bruce Fisher,
+1-732-980-6095, , all of American Standard; or Alex Stanton of
Stanton Crenshaw Communications, +1-212-780-0701, , for Bain
Capital Partners, LLC Web site: http://www.americanstandard.com/
http://www.baincapital.com/
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