Black & Decker Corp., the world's largest power toolmaker, said yesterday that it plans to buy two hardware and lock subsidiaries that had combined sales last year of $250 million from Michigan-based Masco Corp.
The Towson-based company did not disclose the acquisition's price tag. The deal is expected to close this year, according to a statement released by the companies yesterday.
Black & Decker spokeswoman Barbara Lucas called the acquisition of Masco's Baldwin door hardware and Weiser lock brands a "strategic fit" for the Hardware and Home Improvement division, which had sales of $758 million last year and includes Kwikset lock and Price Pfister plumbing product lines. It is Black & Decker's second-largest division, behind power tools and accessories, which had sales last year of $3.1 billion.
"Baldwin is the premier brand name in the high-end door hardware business and would give us more presence in that segment of the market," Lucas said.
"Weiser is more prominent in Canada ... ," she said. "The attraction there would be the additional distribution in the Canadian market."
Joseph Sroka, an analyst with Merrill Lynch Global Securities in New York, said the acquisition gives Black & Decker the flexibility to offer more brands at different prices among a variety of retail channels.
"It's an increase in scope," Sroka said. "The [Hardware and Home Improvement] segment is getting bigger, but it's also getting more diversified."
Masco, which is based in Taylor, Mich., and had $9.4 billion in sales last year, is more than twice the size of Black & Decker, which had $4.4 billion in sales. Masco sells a broad range of items, from cabinets and faucets to paints and bath and shower accessories.
"The lockset business is more of a core business for Black and Decker," said Samuel Cypert, Masco's spokesman and vice president of investor relations. "From our point of view, [the sale] allows us to focus more on businesses where we plan to have more growth."
Neither Masco nor Black & Decker would divulge revenue figures for the subsidiaries, which employ 1,800 workers.
Baldwin has its headquarters and two manufacturing facilities in Reading, Pa.; Weiser has its headquarters, distribution and some assembly operations in Tucson, Ariz., and a manufacturing plant in Nogales, Mexico, a Masco spokesman said.
