The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it has reached a settlement in the ongoing litigation pertaining to ASSA ABLOY's intended $4.3 billion acquisition of Spectrum Brands Holding's Hardware and Home Improvement division.
This proposed settlement mandates ASSA ABLOY to divest assets as a prerequisite for finishing up the legal transaction with Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc.
"The settlement with DOJ is an important milestone towards closing of the HHI acquisition, which will empower us to increase investments in the residential segments, realize the synergies of MUSD 100 and strengthen our product offering for the benefit of consumers," said Nico Delvaux, president and CEO of ASSA ABLOY said in a news release.
ASSA ABLOY AB, is a publicly traded Swedish company with headquarters in Stockholm. It specializes in residential door hardware products marketed in the United States under the August, EMTEK and Yale brands.
Spectrum Brands Holdings, a Delaware corporation publicly traded in the U.S., has headquarters in Middleton, Wisconsin, and offers residential hardware products under the Baldwin and Kwikset brands. Fortune Brands Innovation, also a publicly traded Delaware corporation, is in Deerfield, Illinois, and provides a wide range of home products, including the Moen, Fiberon and MasterLock brands.
According to the terms of the proposed settlement, which is pending court approval, ASSA ABLOY will be required to divest assets to Fortune Brands Innovations, enabling the latter to compete in the markets for premium mechanical door hardware and smart locks utilized in residential and multifamily buildings.
These assets encompass ASSA ABLOY's EMTEK and Schaub premium mechanical door hardware businesses, its Yale and August residential smart lock businesses in the U.S. and Canada, and other assets related to multifamily smart lock applications in both countries.
