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American Standard Brands

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American Standard Brands
Company typePrivate
IndustryManufacturing
PredecessorAmerican Standard Companies
Founded2008; 17 years ago (2008)
Headquarters
Piscataway, New Jersey
,
U.S.
Key people
Steven P. Delarge (CEO)
ProductsPlumbing fixtures
OwnersLixil Group
Websiteamericanstandard-us.com

American Standard Brands is a North American manufacturer of plumbing fixtures, based in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States. Since 2013, it has been a subsidiary of the Lixil Group.[1] The company was formed from American Standard Americas, the North American operations of the kitchen and bathroom division that were previously owned by American Standard Companies before its breakup in 2007. Crane Plumbing and Eljer were merged into the company in 2008, creating American Standard Brands.

In addition to its namesake American Standard brand, the company also produces products under the Crane, Eljer, Fiat, Sanymetal, and Showerite brands.

History

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See also: American Standard Companies
A 1965 American Standard Washal urinal branded as "Standard" next to a newer Washbrook model.

Break up of American Standard Companies

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On February 1, 2007, American Standard Companies announced it would break up its three divisions. The plan included the sale of its kitchen and bath division and the spin off of WABCO Holdings, American Standard's vehicle controls division, while retaining the Trane Company.[2][3]

In July 2007, American Standard announced the sale of the kitchen and bath division to Bain Capital Partners, LLC for $1.76 billion. This included the sale of the American Standard name to Bain, though American Standard retained the rights to use the "American Standard" name for its HVAC products.[4]

At the time of the deal, the kitchen and bath business generated $2.4 billion and had 26,000 workers across 54 production facilities in 23 countries.[4] The deal closed on October 31, 2007.[5] American Standard subsequently changed its name to Trane on November 28, 2007.[6]

American Standard Brands

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Bain Capital created American Standard Americas from the North American units of the bath and kitchen business units acquired from American Standard Companies.[7] Bain sold a majority stake in American Standard Americas to Sun Capital Partners on November 27, 2007 for $130 million.[8] It later sold off the Asian business unit to JS Group and retained the European and Latin American operations as Ideal Standard.[9][7]

In February 2008, American Standard Americas merged with two other plumbing fixture companies, Crane Plumbing and Eljer to create American Standard Brands.[10] The Crane Plumbing unit includes the former Universal-Rundle product line which Crane acquired in 1995 and continues to support with repair parts.[11] Crane also has a Canadian subsidiary Crane Plumbing Corporation.

The new company went on to experience financial difficulties soon after. American Standard saw a 3% decline in revenue in 2011, losing $20 million in the fourth quarter alone.[12] In January 2012, Jay Gould was hired as CEO and president to help turn things around.[13]

Sale to Lixil Group

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In June 2013, the Japanese firm Lixil Group agreed to purchase American Standard Brands from Sun Capital Partners for $342 million.[14] Under Gould and Lixil, the company significantly improved employee morale and increased revenue by $200 million by the beginning of 2014. American Standard also invested heavily in the company's Mexico facilities, where a vast majority of its employees are based.[13]

Starting in January 2014, Ferguson Enterprises became an authorized American Standard wholesaler.[15] In 2014, the company launched a DXV, a luxury bath and kitchen line celebrating the company's 15th decade.[16][17]

Gould resigned in January 2015 and was replaced by CFO Steven Delarge.[18][19]

In 2015, American Standard was recognized for the top spot for "Brand Familiarity" in Bathroom Accessories category by the Builder Magazine.[20] The company's VorMax toilet line was also named a 2015 Good Design award recipient by the Chicago Athenaeum.[21] For the 2018 Atlanta Braves season, American Standard opened branded bathrooms at SunTrust Park.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sun Capital partners divests ASD Americas Holding". Financier Worldwide. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "American Standard announces breakup". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. February 2, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "American Standard Announces Plan to Separate Its Three Businesses | ACHR News". www.achrnews.com. February 5, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "American Standard Selling Bath Unit". The New York Times. July 24, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Bain Capital completes purchase of American Standard division". www.bizjournals.com. October 31, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "American Standard Companies Announces Completion of Sale of Bath and Kitchen Business to Bain Capital" (Press release). Piscataway, NJ, USA: American Standard Companies. October 31, 2007. Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "American Standard Bath & Kitchen Further Divided". Supply House Times. November 25, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  8. ^ "Sun Capital Partners to Acquire a Majority Interest in American Standard Americas" (Press release). Boca Raton, Florida, USA: Sun Capital Partners. November 21, 2007. Archived from the original on May 6, 2009.
  9. ^ Hagerty, James R. (June 28, 2013). "Japanese Toilet Maker Lixil Buys American Standard". The Wall Street Journal. p. B3.
  10. ^ "American Standard America, Crane Plumbing and Eljer Complete Merger, Creating a Leading North American Bath and Plumbing Company" (Press release). Piscataway, NJ, USA: American Standard. March 6, 2008. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  11. ^ "Company Information". American Standard Brands. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008.
  12. ^ Adams, Susan. "Building A Business In Your Bathroom: Jay Gould On Saving American Standard". Forbes. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Minter, Steve (January 16, 2014). "Jay Gould Aims for the 'Magic' at American Standard". IndustryWeek. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  14. ^ Hagerty, James R. (June 28, 2013). "Japanese Toilet Maker Lixil Buys American Standard". The Wall Street Journal. p. B3.
  15. ^ "American Standard Brands announces distribution partnership with Ferguson". Supply House Times. November 26, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  16. ^ "American Standard Celebrates 15 Decades of Design with DXV". www.americanstandard-us.com. May 14, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  17. ^ "DXV Fact Sheet". www.americanstandard-us.com. January 10, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  18. ^ "Jay Gould resigns from American Standard". Supply House Times. January 6, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  19. ^ "Steven Delarge named President and CEO of American Standard Brands". Contractor. October 5, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  20. ^ "2015 Builder Brand Use Study Results". Builder (magazine). April 9, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  21. ^ Brands, American Standard. "American Standard VorMax Toilets Win 2015 GOOD DESIGN Award for Traditional Styling, Innovation". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  22. ^ "American Standard launches exclusive branded restrooms at Atlanta Braves ballpark". Supply House Times. April 13, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
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