Apex Tool Group Sold to Bain Capital

Danaher Corporation and Cooper Industries announce the sale as part of a transaction slated to close in the first half of 2013.

Danaher Corporation (Washington, DC) and Cooper Industries plc (Houston, TX) recently announced the sale of their joint venture, Apex Tool Group, LLC (Sparks, MD), to Bain Capital for approximately $1.6 billion subject to post-closing adjustments.

Apex Tool is one of the largest worldwide producers of industrial hand and power tools, tool storage, drill chucks, chain, and electronic soldering products. Directly and through its subsidiaries, Apex serves a multitude of global markets, including automotive, aerospace, electronics, energy, hardware, industrial, and consumer retail.

Apex markets its portfolio of diverse products under its own brand names in addition to being the principal manufacturer for several key private label products for certain retailers for many years. Apex’s global worldwide brands include Crescent®, GearWrench®, Armstrong®, Weller®, Lufkin®, Campbell®, SATA® and Wiss®.

Currently, Danaher and Cooper each maintain a 50 percent joint venture ownership interest in Apex. This transaction is slated to close in the first half of 2013, pending customary closing conditions and regulatory review and approvals, and Danaher expects the sale to the Boston-based private-equity firm to generate after-tax net proceeds of about $650 million.

At that time, the company will continue to be known as Apex Tool Group and will continue to produce and sell leading brands such as Crescent®, GearWrench®, Armstrong®, Weller®, Lufkin®, SATA® and Wiss® around the world.

Danaher, which generated $16.1 billion in revenue last year, formed Apex with Cooper in 2010 by combining their tool businesses and naming Steve Breitzka, previously the head of the Danaher tool unit, as the chief executive officer.

“Our JV shareholders saw tremendous synergy opportunities when they brought together their combined global hand and power tool businesses in 2010,” said Breitzka, who remains the chief executive of Apex. “Thanks to the outstanding efforts and talent of our associates around the globe who delivered strong results for our owners, we are now poised to build on our past successes and reach even greater heights under Bain Capital’s ownership.”

Apex had net income of $134 million on sales of $1.46 billion last year, according to a Cooper regulatory filing. Apex employs 7,600 people and going forward, the Apex Tool Group name will remain, as will its logo, brands and website, and the company will continue to be headquartered in Sparks. www.apextoolgroup.com