Deal values family-owned maker of garage-door openers at about $5 billion.
Blackstone GroupInc.BX-1.52%has agreed to buy the Chamberlain Group LLC in a deal that values the family-owned maker of LiftMaster garage-door openers at about $5 billion including debt, officials from the companies said.
The private-equity giant is doing the deal through its core private-equity fund, which aims to buy high-quality companiesand hold themfor longer than the typical buyout fund. Blackstone will purchase Chamberlain from Duchossois Group Inc., a family-owned entity comprising operating companies and an investment firm. Duchossois will retain two board seats and a significant minority stake in the business following the close of the deal.
Based in Oak Brook, Ill., Chamberlain owns the LiftMaster, Chamberlain, Merlin and Grifco brands. Its garage-door openers are found in millions of homes and businesses around the world. The company’s myQ platform lets users control their garage doors and grant access remotely to the dog walker, a repairman or delivery person.
Chamberlain in 2019 launched a partnership withAmazon.comInc.that allows Amazon Prime customers in select cities to have packages securely delivered to their garages.
Chamberlain Group also owns Controlled Products Systems Group, a U.S. wholesale distributor of access-control equipment, such as keyless entry pads and card readers, and loading-dock equipment maker Systems LLC.
Blackstone plans to invest in expanding Chamberlain’s connected-services business to more commercial and industrial markets, including residential communities, warehouses and loading docks. The private-equity firm, which has embraced a thematic investment style, sees Chamberlain as a beneficiary of both U.S. housing growth and the continued explosion of e-commerce.
“This is a group that realized connectivity was really important,” said Peter Wallace, head of Blackstone’s core private-equity business. “Even before they figured out how they were going to get paid for it, they decided to WiFi-enable every garage-door opener.”
That prescience has enabled a transformation in the 115-year-old company’s business model, one reason Chamberlain is an ideal candidate for Blackstone’s long-hold strategy, he said.
“We see many facets of growth,” said Chamberlain Group Chief Executive JoAnna Sohovich. “You have new houses being built and people moving out of high-density areas during the pandemic. But people are also replacing working garage-door openers to get the better tech-enabled one.”
The Duchossois family’s connection to Chamberlain dates back to 1979, whenThrall Car ManufacturingCo., a railroad-equipment maker of which family patriarch Dick Duchossois was president, bought the company. It was then a public company making washing-machine wringers and home ironers, according to the Duchossois website.
In 1980, Dick’s son Craig Duchossois became the company’s president, and in 1983 the Duchossois family purchased the Thrall family’s interest in the company.
In 2001, Duchossois sold Thrall to Trinity Industries Inc., retaining Chamberlain and continuing to expand the business.