- November 21, 2024
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The largest publicly traded company in Sarasota County and one of the region's biggest employers, PGT Innovations, is set to be sold in one of the biggest deals in the region in decades.
In a Monday morning statement, Masonite International, a Tampa-based manufacturer and distributor of interior and exterior doors, says it will acquire PGT, a Venice-based designer and manufacturer of impact-resistant patio door and window systems. Masonite will pay $3 billion in a combination of cash and Masonite shares, according to the statement.
The deal has not yet been finalized, but at closing, PGT will add two of its directors to the Masonite board of directors. Tampa-based Masonite says upon completion of the transaction, Masonite shareholders will own approximately 84% of the combined company, with PGT Innovations shareholders owning approximately 16%.
The merger will be the union of two of the largest publicly traded companies along the Gulf Coast. Masonite is ranked No. 8 in the Business Observer's 2023 Big Book of Business, while PGT is No. 16.
Masonite had 2022 revenue of $2.9 billion, up 11.35% from 2021. PGT had revenue of $1.49 billion in 2022, up 28.5% from 2021. Together, the companies expect to gross more than $4 billion annually now.
The Masonite-PGT deal comes less than a week after PGT, according to a report in Reuters, rejected a far-less lucrative offer, of $2.2 billion, from Miter Brands. Tacoma, Washington-based Miter, Reuters adds, also made an offer for PGT in October.
The Masonite deal, meanwhile, is the latest — and biggest — of the company's string of acquisitions to expand its home-design offerings.
In November, Masonite acquired Fleetwood Aluminum Products for $285 million in cash. Fleetwood manufactures luxury residential items such as aluminum-framed glass doors and windows.
Part of the rationale for the Fleetwood acquisition was Masonite eyeing the evolving market of luxury home-amenity offerings, including innovative door systems that lead to home patios. Masonite sought "to more effectively address the large patio door market and indoor-outdoor living trend, but with a focus on premium aluminum framed glass segment, which we view as more differentiated than the mainstream sliding vinyl patio door segment," a Masonite official said at the time.
Masonite likely eyed PGT Innovations, the largest manufacturer in Sarasota County, as its revenues boomed.
PGT Innovations had doubled its 2019 revenues, $744.9 million, as a result of multiple acquisitions and organic growth in a booming homebuilding and real estate market. That's a market Masonite seeks to dominate as new homes rise thanks to increasing demand.
On Monday, Masonite says the addition of PGT Innovations allows complementary offerings in adjacent product categories, expanded routes to markets, cross-selling opportunities, enhanced manufacturing capabilities and "a significantly stronger growth and financial profile." And the merger is expected not to be complicated.
"The acquisition is expected to deliver meaningful earnings per share accretion and significant synergies with minimal investment required to integrate the two businesses," Masonite officials say.
"The combined business will be well positioned to provide homeowners with differentiated solutions across both the interior and exterior openings of the home, while significantly expanding our geographic presence and growth opportunities," says Masonite CEO Howard Heckes.
PGT Innovations was founded in 1980. Brands in the company include Triple Diamond Glass, a wholly owned subsidiary; CGI; PGT Custom Windows and Doors; WinDor; Western Window Systems; Anlin Windows & Doors; Eze-Breeze; Eco-Window Systems; NewSouth Window Solutions; and Martin Door.
PGT has a deep history in the Sarasota business community. Entrepreneur Rod Hershberger co-founded the company and was CEO from 2005 until he retired in 2017. Jeff Jackson, who joined the company in November 2005 as vice president and CFO, replaced Hershberger as CEO. The company has expanded in Sarasota County multiple times, and through 2022 had about 2,000 employees.
PGT also recently announced an expansion project in Virginia, where, in Prince George County, just south of Richmond, it plans to open a 291,000-square-foot facility. PGT plans to invest $54.3 million in the plant.
