American Standard Companies

American Standard Companies, Inc. was a global manufacturer of plumbing, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and services, bath and kitchen products and vehicle control systems.

American Standard Companies Inc.
FateRenamed Trane Inc., disposed of bathroom and vehicle control divisions
PredecessorArmitage Shanks 
SuccessorTrane Inc.
Founded1929 (1929) (as American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation)
1967 (1967) (as American Standard Companies)
Defunct2007
HeadquartersPiscataway, New Jersey, U.S.
Key people
Frederic M. Poses, Chairman and CEO
Productsplumbing fixtures, heating and cooling equipment, automotive supplies
Number of employees
15,200
Websitewww.americanstandard.com 

The company was formed in 1929 through the merger of the American Radiator Company and Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company forming the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation. The group was renamed to the "American Standard Corporation" in 1967.

The company divested all but the HVAC business in 2007, and renamed itself Trane. Trane was acquired by Ingersoll Rand in 2008.

History
See also: American Radiator Company and Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company

In 1929, the American Radiator Company (founded 1892) merged with the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company (founded in 1875) to form the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation (as mentioned above in bold). The plumbing division, Standard Sanitary, would continue to sell their products under the "Standard" label until 1967, when the company changed its name to American Standard Corporation. The American Standard label was used for both divisions from that year on.

In 1929, American Standard bought the Kewanee Boiler Company which it kept until the early 1970s.

Kewanee Boiler

In 1968 the group purchased the Westinghouse Air Brake Company's earthmoving and mining product range. It divested itself of these assets in 1984.[1]

In 1984, the group acquired HVAC company Trane. In 1999, American Standard purchased control of the United Kingdom-based Armitage Shanks and Ceramica Dolomite of Italy from Blue Circle Industries for $430 million.

On 1 February 2007, the company announced it would break up its three divisions. The plan included the sale of its kitchen and bath division; and the spin off of its vehicle control systems business; the remainder of the company, primarily its air conditioning business was to be retained, and renamed "Trane":[2]

  • The vehicle controls division was spun off, forming WABCO Vehicle Control Systems.
  • The kitchen and bathroom division was sold off: Bain Capital Partners acquired the division for $1.745 billion.[3] Bain Capital sold the North American and Asian operations to Sun Capital and Lixil Group respectively, whilst retaining the European and Latin American operations as Ideal Standard.[4] The North American operations became American Standard Americas, whilst the global business became Ideal Standard.
  • The remainder of the company held was renamed, taking the name of its heating and air conditioning subsidiary Trane. Ingersoll Rand made an offer to acquire the company on December 17, 2007, and the sale was completed on June 5, 2008.[5]

References
  1. Publishing, Contrafed. "Caterpillar 639D".
  2. "American Standard Companies Announces Plan To Separate Its Three Businesses", ir.americanstandard.com (press release), 1 Feb 2007, archived from the original on 13 Jan 2009
  3. American Standard Companies Announces Completion of Sale of Bath and Kitchen Business to Bain Capital (press release), 31 Oct 2007, archived from the original on 5 May 2009
  4. Hagerty, James R. (28 June 2013), "Japanese Toilet Maker Lixil Buys American Standard", online.wsj.com, The more than century-old American Standard was sold in 2007 to a Bain Capital Partners LLC fund for $1.76 billion. Bain sold the North American part of the business to Sun Capital for about $130 million and later sold the Asian business to Lixil, then known as JS Group, while retaining the European and Latin American operations, known as Ideal Standard.
  5. Ingersoll Rand Completes Acquisition of Trane (press release), Ingersoll Rand, 5 June 2008, archived from the original on 28 July 2014, retrieved 20 June 2014

Literature
  • Rodengen, Jeffrey L. (1999), The history of American Standard, Write Stuff Enterprises, ISBN 0945903480
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