ABOUT THIS COMPANY

ABOUT THIS COMPANY

Tooling up

It is safe to say that when most people think “Black & Decker,” they think “power tools.”  Whether the statement works the same the other way around is a question for the ages, but there is little argument that Black & Decker is the leading provider of power tools.  As such, it is synonymous to many home and industrial appliances whose misuse is most likely to occasion a visit to the emergency room.  In addition to the Black & Decker consumer brand, the company sells industrial tools under the DeWalt, Porter-Cable and Delta Machinery brands.  Together, those appliances were responsible for almost three quarters of the corporation’s revenue in 2008, a figure translating to $4.3 billion.  Tools, however, are not the be-all and end-all of Black & Decker’s offerings.  It also makes technology-based fastening systems through its Emhart Division, high-end plumbing products through Price Pfister and a range of security hardware products (locks, mostly) through Baldwin, Kwikset, Weiser Lock and K2 Commercial Hardware.  By 2008, the company was serving its products to clients in 100 nations around the world.

Such prowess is why in November 2009, Stanley Works agreed to acquire Black & Decker for $4.5 billion in an all-stock deal.  The deal was priced at a 22 percent premium to the closing price of Black & Decker’s stock on the day before the acquisition was announced; for every share they own, Black & Decker shareholders will receive 1.275 shares in Stanley.  The combination of the two tool-making behemoths is expected to result in annual cost savings of about $350 million per year, and $1 per share in additional net income in three years.   Stanley’s chairman and CEO, John Lundgren, will become chief executive of the combined firm, and Black & Decker’s CEO Noah Archibald will serve as executive chair of the firm for three years.