拯救美標(biāo)
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????上周，私募股權(quán)基金公司太陽資本（Sun Capital Partners）同意將美國(guó)廚衛(wèi)生產(chǎn)商美標(biāo)公司（American Standard）以5.42億美元的價(jià)格出讓給日本驪住集團(tuán)（Lixil Group），這個(gè)價(jià)格是當(dāng)年太陽資本收購(gòu)美標(biāo)公司時(shí)的一倍多。誰都不會(huì)想到，六年前如果沒有太陽資本，美標(biāo)可能就“停業(yè)”了。 ????美標(biāo)是一個(gè)有著140多年歷史的廚衛(wèi)品牌，在美國(guó)享有盛譽(yù)，曾隸屬于美標(biāo)集團(tuán)。當(dāng)年這家集團(tuán)旗下還有大型暖通空調(diào)部門和車輛控制系統(tǒng)業(yè)務(wù)部門。然而在2007年初，美標(biāo)集團(tuán)聽取了華爾街分析師的建議，推出資產(chǎn)分拆計(jì)劃。根據(jù)這一計(jì)劃，美標(biāo)集團(tuán)將衛(wèi)浴及廚具業(yè)務(wù)部門拍賣給報(bào)價(jià)最高的競(jìng)購(gòu)方【它的車輛控制系統(tǒng)業(yè)務(wù)部門以威伯科（WABCO）之名獨(dú)立上市公司，而暖通空調(diào)業(yè)務(wù)部門則被賣給了英格索蘭公司（Ingersoll-Rand）。】 ????潛在競(jìng)購(gòu)者很快發(fā)現(xiàn)美標(biāo)公司的衛(wèi)浴及廚具業(yè)務(wù)部門在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)已經(jīng)陷入嚴(yán)重虧損，大勢(shì)已去，只剩下一個(gè)虛名，但是在亞洲和歐洲兩大市場(chǎng)卻增長(zhǎng)迅速。事實(shí)上，當(dāng)時(shí)大家都預(yù)測(cè)，最終購(gòu)得美標(biāo)的公司將會(huì)關(guān)閉它在美國(guó)的業(yè)務(wù)。 ????太陽資本一直都在謹(jǐn)慎的關(guān)注著競(jìng)購(gòu)美標(biāo)衛(wèi)浴及廚具業(yè)務(wù)部門的進(jìn)程，主要是由于太陽資本當(dāng)時(shí)已經(jīng)擁有兩家美國(guó)衛(wèi)生潔具制造商：克蘭公司（Crane Plumbing）和雅佳公司（Eljer Plumbingware）。這兩家公司都是太陽資本在2005年收購(gòu)的。當(dāng)太陽資本得知只剩下貝恩資本（Bain Capital）和塞克資本（SAC Capital）兩家還在角逐時(shí)，太陽資本向貝恩資本提出了一個(gè)交易提議。 ????“由于最終的競(jìng)標(biāo)是在周一，于是我們?cè)谇耙恢艿闹芪搴拓惗髻Y本進(jìn)行了接觸，”太陽資本聯(lián)席首席執(zhí)行官馬可?拉德爾回憶說。“他們認(rèn)為美標(biāo)的美國(guó)區(qū)業(yè)務(wù)一文不值，甚至可能是負(fù)資產(chǎn)，因?yàn)檫€要花錢來關(guān)閉這些業(yè)務(wù)。于是，那個(gè)周末我們提出由太陽資本出資1.3億美元來購(gòu)買美標(biāo)美國(guó)區(qū)業(yè)務(wù)的大多數(shù)股權(quán)。貝恩資本同意了，還把這個(gè)價(jià)碼加入到美標(biāo)全球業(yè)務(wù)的競(jìng)購(gòu)中，最終擊敗了塞克資本。我們和貝恩資本坐在了一條船上，如果他們競(jìng)標(biāo)成功，我們也將囊獲美標(biāo)的美國(guó)區(qū)業(yè)務(wù)。” ????貝恩資本最終以17.5億美元收購(gòu)了美標(biāo)衛(wèi)浴及廚具業(yè)務(wù)部門，并將后者的亞洲和歐洲業(yè)務(wù)重新冠名為Ideal Standard。太陽資本購(gòu)買美標(biāo)美國(guó)區(qū)業(yè)務(wù)的1.3億美元中有5,000萬美元做為股本，使得太陽資本擁有了51%的股權(quán)，略高于貝恩資本。其余則用來償還債務(wù)。 ????太陽資本認(rèn)為，美標(biāo)存在大量的產(chǎn)能過剩以及在錯(cuò)誤的地方生產(chǎn)錯(cuò)誤的產(chǎn)品等問題。例如，太陽資本認(rèn)為，一些在墨西哥生產(chǎn)的低產(chǎn)量、高利潤(rùn)率的產(chǎn)品在美國(guó)生產(chǎn)的話會(huì)更合適，而一些高產(chǎn)量、低利潤(rùn)率的產(chǎn)品則更適合在墨西哥生產(chǎn)。同時(shí)，太陽資本還覺得，與行業(yè)內(nèi)的市場(chǎng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者科勒公司（Kohler）相比較，美標(biāo)在新品研發(fā)上做的還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠。 |
????Private equity firm Sun Capital Partners last week agreed to sell kitchen and bath company American Standard Brands to Japan's LIXIL Corp., in a $542 million deal that more than doubles Sun's original investment. Not exactly what too many folks would have imagined six years ago, when Sun was the only thing standing between American Standard and an "Out of Business" sign. ????American Standard has been a ubiquitous name in America's kitchens and bathrooms for more than 140 years, but it used to be part of a much larger conglomerate that also included large HVAC and vehicle controls divisions. By early 2007, however, the company listened to the Wall Street sirens and launched a breakup plan that would include the sale of its kitchen and bath unit to the highest bidder (the vehicle controls unit became publicly-traded WABCO, while the HVAC unit was sold to Ingersoll-Rand). ????Prospective bidders quickly learned that the kitchen and bath unit was "American" in name only, losing a bundle stateside while growing rapidly in Asia and Europe. In fact, it was expected that the ultimate winner would effectively shut down the American operations. ????Sun Capital had been paying careful attention to the process, in large part because it already owned a pair of much smaller U.S. fixture-makers: Crane Plumbing and Eljer Plumbingware, both of which Sun acquired in 2005. When Sun learned that the American Standard process was down to just Bain Capital and SAC Capital, it went to Bain with an offer. ????"We contacted them on a Friday when final bids were due on a Monday," recalls Sun Capital co-CEO Marc Leder. "They were valuing the American business at zero, or maybe even a bit less because of what it would cost to shut it down. So over that weekend we agreed to pay $130 million for a majority stake in the Americas business, which Bain took and added it onto its bid for the global business and outbid SAC. We have them an ironclad agreement that if they closed on the larger deal, we'd close simultaneously on the Americas piece." ????Bain won the overall deal for $1.75 billion, and would rename the Asia and European business Ideal Standard. The $130 million carve-out of American Standard was structured with $50 million of equity -- of which Sun put in slightly more than Bain for a 51% ownership stake. The remainder was debt. ????Sun's investment thesis was that American Standard had a lot of excess capacity, making the right products in the wrong places. For example, it was making certain low-volume, high-margin products in Mexico that would be better made in the U.S., and some higher-volume, lower-margin products that it thought should be made in Mexico. Sun also felt that the company was not doing nearly enough with product innovation, particularly when compared to market leader Kohler. |
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