Masonite International Acquires Stanley Works Division

On March 2, 2004, Masonite International Corp. acquired the residential entry doors division of the Stanley Works of New Britain, Connecticut, for US$160 million. The purchased business includes five physical plants, of which the principal ones are in Charlotte, North Carolina and Langley, BC.

In conjunction with the acquisition, Masonite and its wholly owned subsidiary, Masonite Holdings, Inc., completed an amendment to its US$800 million senior secured credit facility with a syndicate of North American and international financial institutions led by Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank. The amendments included the addition of US$200 million of new term facilities.

For the acquisition, Masonite International was represented by in-house counsel Harley Ulster; and assisted in Canada by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with a team that included Jean-Paul Bisnaire, Mark Connelly and Jennifer Grossklaus (corporate) and George Addy and Mark Katz (competition); and in the US by Richard Parker and Darren Tucker (antitrust) of O’Melveny & Myers LLP in Washington, DC, and by Marian Tse (benefits) of Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston.

The Stanley Works was represented in-house by Bruce Beatt, vice-president, general counsel and secretary; and David Winakor, assistant general counsel and assistant secretary; and assisted in Canada by Stikeman Elliott LLP, with a team that included Susan Hutton and Catherine McKenna (competition). In the US, the Stanley Works was represented by Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, with a team led by Ethan Klingsberg, Meme Stowers and Yavor Efremov (corporate), and included Lisa Coar and Aref Amanat, and John Magney, Mark Nelson, David Bosco and Michael Kehoe (antitrust), Joyce McCarty (environmental), Debbie Kurtzberg and Larry Seymour (benefits), Mauro Premutico, Tom Rayski and Brian Crist (IP), Steve Horowitz, Mal Serure and Alissa Kaplan (real estate) and Bill McRae (tax).

For the credity facility, Masonite International was represented by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, with a team that included Mitchell Finkelstein, Mindy Gilbert and Jennifer Grossklaus in Toronto, Sébastien Thériault in Montreal and Christian Lucky in New York. SunTrust Bank was represented by Chris Molen, Ted Smith and Jeffrey Narvil of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP in Atlanta.