Stanley buys Black & Decker in $4.5B stock deal

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. and TOWSON, Md.—Saying it expects to realize $350 million in cost savings, The Stanley Works announced Nov. 2 the purchase of Black & Decker in an all-stock $4.5 billion deal.

The new entity, Stanley Black & Decker, will be an $8.4 billion global industrial giant. The boards of both companies have approved the deal under which Black & Decker shareholders will receive a fixed ratio of 1.275 shares of Stanley common stock for each share of Black & Decker common stock they own. According to a press release, this represents an “implied premium of 22.1. percent to Black & Decker's share price as of Friday, October 30, 2009.”

The deal is expected to close by the end of  Q2 2010. At that time, “Stanley shareholders will own approximately 50.5 percent of the equity of the combined company and Black & Decker shareholders will own approximately 49.5 percent.”

Stanley's current nine-member Board of Directors will be joined by six new members from Black & Decker's Board of Directors.

John F. Lundgren, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stanley, will be president and CEO of Stanley Black & Decker. Nolan D. Archibald, chairman, president, and CEO of Black & Decker, will be executive chairman of the combined company for three years.

The Stanley Works is parent company of Stanley Security Solutions, “a diversified industrial company with a global leadership position in hand tools and strong construction and do-it-yourself, security and industrial businesses with well-known brand names such as Stanley, FatMax, Bostitch, Facom, Proto, Mac Tools, Sonitrol, Best, and Vidmar.” Black & Decker “brings a global leadership position in power tools and a diverse product offering under an array of renowned brands including Black & Decker, DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Emhart Teknologies, Kwikset, Baldwin and Price Pfister."

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