Ply Gem Holdings Inc. finalized a deal Thursday in which it sold itself to private equity investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. for $2.4 billion.
The private equity firm, based in New York, acquired all of Ply Gem’s outstanding stock. The company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shareholders received $24.64 per share in cash. The company’s stock price closed at $24.65 per share Thursday.
Ply Gem will continue to be based in Cary, and Gary Robinette will continue as the company’s CEO. Shawn Poe and John Wayne will continue as the company’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer, respectively.
The deal also included CD&R’S acquisition of Dallas-based Atrium Windows & Doors for about $300 million in debt, according to Ply Gem corporate controller Bret Ellis. Ply Gem and Atrium merged under the Ply Gem name. Ellis said Atrium will report up to Ply Gem and that Atrium’s executives will continue in their roles.
“They are staying for now,” Ellis said. “But depending on how things go, we’ll change things eventually.”
Eight of Ply Gem’s nine board members ceased to be directors. Robinette is the only continuing director. Rajeev Amara, Nathan Sleeper, J.L. Zrebiec and Tyler Young were elected as directors, according to a filing with the SEC. John Krenicki will be lead director of the board.
Amara is the managing director of Golden Gate Capital, which sold Atrium to CD&R. Sleeper and Zrebiec are partners at CD&R. Young is a principal at CD&R. Krenicki is a partner at CD&R and former vice chairman of General Electric Co.
Ellis said the Atrium acquisition will hopefully get Ply Gem into markets in Florida and out west. The acquisition is part of a plan of strategic buying and merging. He said Ply Gem is looking to acquire more external building product companies and will use its own money to make smaller acquisitions while the private equity firm will help with bigger acquisitions.
Ply Gem manufactures windows and doors, sidings, trim, mouldings, accessories and other building products for new construction and home repair and remodeling. The company’s net sales for the fourth quarter of 2017 increased 11.8 percent to $516.9 million from $462.3 million in 2016, according to a filing with the SEC.
Net income for the fourth quarter increased $7.9 million to $14.6 million from the fourth quarter of 2016. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter were 21 cents, compared to 10 cents for the same period in 2016. Earnings per share for the year were $1 per share, compared to $1.11 per share for 2016.
The company’s gross profit margin was 21.3 percent, a decrease year-over-year due to higher freight and raw material costs for aluminum, PVC resin and glass. In August, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, damaging a PVC resin plant and driving the cost of the product up.
Atrium produces windows and doors, selling in the United States and Canada. It operates a nationwide network of manufacturing facilities and sells products to the new construction and the repair and remodel markets. In 2017, the company generated about $350 million of revenue.
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice now owns about 70 percent of the new privately held company, and Atrium shareholders, which include funds managed by Golden Gate Capital, hold approximately 30 percent. Golden Gate Capital acquired Atrium in 2010.
