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German bathroom firm Grohe sold to Japan's Lixil | German bathroom firm Grohe sold to Japan's Lixil |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Luxury bathroom fittings maker Grohe has agreed to a takeover offer from Japanese building materials company Lixil. | |
Under the deal Lixil and the Development Bank of Japan have agreed to buy an 87.5% stake in the German firm, valuing it at $4.1bn (£2.5bn). | Under the deal Lixil and the Development Bank of Japan have agreed to buy an 87.5% stake in the German firm, valuing it at $4.1bn (£2.5bn). |
It is the largest takeover to date of a German firm by a Japanese company. | |
Grohe is owned by private equity firm TPG Capital and the private equity business of Credit Suisse. | |
The German firm employs about 9,000 staff worldwide and has nine factories, including plants in Portugal, Thailand, Canada and China. | |
It also owns a controlling stake in Chinese tap maker Joyou. | |
Grohe's British chief executive, David Haines, will remain in his post and has signed a five-year contract. | |
"For Grohe and Joyou, Lixil is a perfect match" said Mr Haines in a statement. | |
"As a growth-oriented company, Lixil has always been the preferred partner to support us with our growth strategy, especially in emerging markets." | |
Combined, Grohe and Lixil will become the world's biggest maker of bathroom and kitchen accessories. | |
International expansion | |
In its most recent earnings announcement Grohe said that sales in the first half of 2013 rose 5% to 730m euros ($987m; £614m). | |
Under the leadership of chief executive Yoshiaki Fukimori, Lixil has expanded its international operations. | |
In June, it spent $542m buying American Standard Brands, a US maker of bathroom and kitchen accessories. | |
It has also expanded in the engineering sector with the purchase of Italy's Permasteelisa in 2011. |