American Standard Brands

American Standard Brands

Type	Private
Industry	Plumbing fixtures
Founded	1872
Headquarters	Piscataway, New Jersey, U.S.
Key people	Donald C. Devine, CEO
Products	Kitchen and bath fixtures, faucets and fittings; kitchen, bathing and wellness products; and bathroom furniture and accessories
Website	www.americanstandard-us.com

American Standard Brands is a closely held manufacturer of plumbing fixtures, sold under the American Standard, Crane, Fiat, Sanymetal, Showerite and Eljer brand names, based in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States. It is principally owned by Sun Capital Partners with Bain Capital Partners holding a minority stake. Bain Capital Partners owns a related and formerly co-owned plumbing fixture company, Ideal Standard which operates outside North America.

History

American Standard had many beginnings, because there were many mergers. Here is a version that tells a history of the plumbing side of the business, before the merger in 1929 with the radiator side of it. This is taken from a book of family history, called The Ahrens Family, written by Margaret Bridwell and published in 1954.

• Theodor Ahrens (Sr.) immigrated from Germany in 1850, was a locksmith and a blacksmith, and had a "brass business" in Baltimore and then Louisville.
• In 1865 he established a new company to include plumbing and pipe fitting. His partner in this firm was Henry Ott, and the company was called Ahrens and Ott. They soon began to manufacture wholesale plumbing and steam fitting materials, brass, and iron.
• Because of continued growth, in 1886 the firm Ahrens and Ott was reorganized and became the Ahrens and Ott Manufacturing Company. Theodore (Jr.) was the Treasurer and General Manager.
• In 1895 the manufacture of cast iron enameled sanitary ware was added to production.
• In 1899 the Ahrens and Ott Manufacturing Company, the Standard Manufacturing Company, the Dawes and Myler Manufacturing Company, and 6 other plants were consolidated to form the Standard Manufacturing Company, headquartered in Pittsburgh, with Theodore (Jr.) as its first president. He held this position, and others, until 1934.
• In 1929 Standard Manufacturing Company consolidated with the American Radiator Company to form the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation.

The heritage of American Standard began in 1872, when industrialist John B. Pierce's business, Pierce Steam Heating Company, merged with independent manufacturers to form the American Radiator Company.

In 1929, the American Radiator Company merged with the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company (founded in 1875) to form the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation. 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 has been used for both divisions from that year on.

In 1999, American Standard purchased control of the UK-based Armitage Shanks and Ceramica Dolomite of Italy from Blue Circle Industries for 430 million United States dollars.

On February 1, 2007, American Standard Companies announced it would break up its three divisions. The plan included the sale of its kitchen and bath division and spin off WABCO, American Standard's vehicle controls division, while retaining The Trane Company.

On October 31, 2007, American Standard Cos. announced it had completed the sale of the kitchen and bath division to Bain Capital Partners, LLC. This announcement includes the sale of the American Standard name to Bain while American Standard retains the rights to use the "American Standard" name for HVAC products. American Standard changed its name to Trane on November 28, 2007.[1]

Bain Capital created American Standard Americas which sold a majority stake in the company to Sun Capital Partners on November 27, 2007.[2]

In February 2008, American Standard Americas merged with two other plumbing fixture companies, Crane Plumbing and Eljer to create American Standard Brands. The Crane Plumbing unit includes the former Universal-Rundle product line which Crane continues to support with repair parts.[3][4] Crane also has a Canadian subsidiary.

See also

• American Radiator Building
• John B. Pierce

External links

• American Standard Brands official site
• American Standard official site
• Crane Plumbing official site
• Eljer official site
• JADO official site
• Porcher official site
• FIAT official site
• Timeline of American Standard History