Lixil Agrees to Sell Permasteelisa to Atlas Holdings

Lixil Group Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Permasteelisa S.p.A. to Atlas Holdings LLC of Greenwich, Conn. Atlas and its affiliates own and operate a diversified group of global manufacturing, distribution and construction businesses with an emphasis on safety and operational improvement. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Permasteelisa, based in Vittorio Veneto, Italy, is a global contractor in the engineering, project management, manufacturing, installation and after-sales services of advanced building facades, architectural envelopes and interiors. Japanese company Lixil bought 100% of Permasteelisa’s shares for approximately $812.6 million* in August 2011. Lixil announced in 2017 that it planned to sell the company to Chinese company Grandland Holding Group Ltd. for $528.5 million. However, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States blocked the sale in October 2018. Lixil terminated the sale the following month.

Permasteelisa has been involved in the construction of several iconic buildings such as the Shard in London, the Apple campus in Cupertino, Calif., and the World Trade Center redevelopment in New York, where the group worked on 1WTC, 3WTC and 7WTC.

“Permasteelisa drives innovation in the curtainwall sector by integrating design, engineering, manufacturing capabilities and project management to achieve works of excellence worldwide. Under Lixil’s guidance and with the consolidation of our leadership role, we were able to respond to significant challenges in an increasingly complex and competitive landscape,” says Klaus Lother, Permasteelisa Group CEO. “We are now entering a new phase of our evolution. We thank Lixil for its full and constant support and are confident that with the ownership and support of Atlas Holdings, we will continue our evolution whilst generating value within the construction sector.”

According to a statement from Lixil Group, the sale will enable it to simplify and eliminate ongoing exposure to different risk types as Permasteelisa’s operations are different from those of Lixil’s core business operations in terms of business cycles and other factors.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that will allow Permasteelisa, a world-class brand in the area of highly specialized curtainwalls, to become part of the Atlas family of global businesses. We believe Atlas is the ideal owner for Permasteelisa, as they bring a strong record of delivering the human and financial capital necessary to strengthen businesses for the long-term,” says Kinya Seto, CEO of Lixil Group. “For Lixil, today’s agreement enables us to reduce our risk exposure in non-core areas of operation and represents a new chapter in our transformation as we focus on strengthening our water and housing technology businesses and seek to invest more resources in these high growth areas.”

“We are excited to have reached an agreement to acquire Permasteelisa, as we believe the company has a solid foundation in place for success, particularly as a focused, standalone business that is well capitalized,” adds Timothy J. Fazio, co-founder and managing partner of Atlas. “The company has a strong management team led by Klaus Lother, and a skilled workforce. When coupled with our expertise in the building materials and commercial construction markets and our attention to client satisfaction, innovation and operational improvements, we will build an even stronger company in the months and years ahead.”

Atlas Holdings’ companies include plywood manufacturer New Wood Resources, structural wood products manufacturer RedBuilt and Aludium, a manufacturer of sheets and coils for the building and construction market, among others.

While details of accounting treatments and presentation methods are now under discussion with the auditor, in line with International Financial Reporting Standards, Permasteelisa will be classified as discontinued operations in Lixil Group’s financial reports.

*Editor’s note: The USD amount was calculated using the exchange rate at the time of the sale, which was 1 EUR = 1.4182 USD.