TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LIXIL Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Yoshiaki Fujimori), and the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (“DBJ”; Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Toru Hashimoto) have completed the acquisition of 87.5% of the share capital of GROHE Group S.à r.l., one of the world’s leading providers of premium sanitary fittings (Corporate Centre: Düsseldorf, Germany; CEO: David Haines. Hereafter called GROHE).
The implied enterprise value, including the assumption of debt, is €3.06 billion (428.4 billion JPY, €1=140 JPY), as announced on September 26, 2013. The shares were purchased from Glacier Luxembourg One S.à r.l., indirectly owned by TPG and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners. GROHE and Joyou, GROHE’s subsidiary company, became LIXIL-affiliated companies on January 21.
The transaction represents the largest ever German investment by a Japanese company and is another significant step in the implementation of LIXIL’s highly successful strategy to become the global leader in the building materials and housing equipment industry. It follows the acquisitions of American Standard Brands in August 2013, a leading North American manufacturer of a wide range of high quality kitchen and bath products; Permasteelisa Group in 2011, a high-end curtain wall contractor in Italy; and American Standard Asia Pacific in 2009.
LIXIL will leverage GROHE’s extensive distribution network to expand its faucet business and, more generally, to strengthen its product offerings for complete bathroom solutions globally.