Black & Decker Corp., the Towson-based toolmaker founded here almost 100 years ago, said Monday that it plans to merge with The Stanley Works in a $4.5 billion all-stock deal that will bring together internationally known brands but reduce the number of local jobs.
For the Baltimore region, it is another in a long line of deals relocating corporate headquarters - and the decision-making power, charitable muscle and prestige they represent. Stanley would have controlling interest in the combined company, which would be named Stanley Black & Decker and headquartered in New Britain, Conn., where Stanley is located. The power tools division would remain in Towson.
Black & Decker spokesman Roger Young said there were about 1,500 workers in Maryland, mainly in the power tools division. Fewer than 250 work in corporate jobs - most of whom "will not likely be maintained," he said.
"This is pretty bad news for the state and the region," said Richard Clinch, director of economic research at the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute. "Black & Decker will be a division headquarters."
Some analysts called the deal a savvy move for two companies hurt by the slump in construction, and the companies described it as a merger of industry players on different sides of the tool spectrum.
"I think this is a very unique and complementary fit," said Nolan D. Archibald, Black & Decker's chairman and chief executive. "I don't think there would be another company that could fit better with Black & Decker or one that could fit better with Stanley. We are not directly competing, although we sell our products through the same distribution."
But Maryland political and economic-development leaders bemoaned the loss of a local Fortune 500 company - one of only three in the metro area. The others are Constellation Energy Group and Legg Mason Inc.
"Having the worldwide headquarters of Black & Decker here in Towson has long been a point of pride for Baltimore County," said County Executive James T. Smith Jr. "The company has been an important part of our economic landscape for decades. This is clearly not a positive development. But such decisions are based on global competition. This is the sort of thing we have to expect in this tough economy."
Other area headquarters lost to mergers or acquisitions include The Rouse Co., Alex Brown Inc. and USF&G Corp.
