Brassware manufacturer acquired by building materials company

Japanese building materials company Lixil is set to acquire German brassware supplier Grohe from investors Texas Pacific Group and DLJ, with the transaction expected to close in the first quarter of 2014 .

The deal sees Lixil and the Development Bank of Japan agree to buy an 87.5% equity interest in the firm, valuing it at €3.06bn. This represents the biggest ever takeover of a German firm by a Japanese company.

It is part of Lixil’s strategy to become a global leader in the building materials and housing equipment industry and follows the acquisition of American Standard Asia Pacific in 2009, Permasteelisa, Italy in 2011 and American Standard Baths earlier this year.

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Lixil and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners will acquire Grohe through a jointly-owned entity of which each party will own a 50% voting interest.  Grohe and its subsidiary Joyou will remain independent within Lixil.

Grohe CEO David Haines, who has signed a new five year contract said: “For Grohe, Lixil is a perfect match. As a growth oriented company, Lixil has always been the preferred partner to support us with our growth strategy, especially in emerging markets.”

Lixil Group CEO Yoshiaki Fujimori said: “Grohe is one of the most well-known brands in the global sanitary market. We have great respect for what CEO David Haines and his management team have achieved.

“Bringing Grohe under his leadership into Lixil Group allows us to make further progress in building the leading platform in the global sanitary industry, whilst also strengthening our distribution network across Asia.”

Grohe has around nine thousand staff and nine factories worldwide, including Thailand and China. Its most recent sales figures for the first half of 2013 rose 5% to €730m. The company was founded in 1911 as Berkenhoff & Paschedag and was taken over by Friedrich Grohe in 1936, becoming Friedrich Grohe Armaturenfabrik in 1948.