Tool titans Black & Decker, Stanley Works to merge
Tue 03 Nov 2009
Black & Decker employs 1,500 people in Maryland. Most of them work at the campus that includes its headquarters, above, off Joppa Road in Towson. The fewer than 250 people who hold corporate positions "will not likely be maintained," a company spokesman said.
Black & Decker Corp., the Towson-based toolmaker founded here almost 100 years ago, said Monday that it plans to merge with The Stanley Works in a $4.5 billion all-stock deal that will bring together internationally known brands but reduce the number of local jobs.
For the Baltimore region, it is another in a long line of deals relocating corporate headquarters - and the decision-making power, charitable muscle and prestige they represent. Stanley would have controlling interest in the combined company, which would be named Stanley Black & Decker and headquartered in New Britain, Conn., where Stanley is located. The power tools division would remain in Towson.
Black & Decker spokesman Roger Young said there were about 1,500 workers in Maryland, mainly in the power tools division. Fewer than 250 work in corporate jobs - most of whom "will not likely be maintained," he said.
"This is pretty bad news for the state and the region," said Richard Clinch, director of economic research at the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute. "Black & Decker will be a division headquarters."
Some analysts called the deal a savvy move for two companies hurt by the slump in construction, and the companies described it as a merger of industry players on different sides of the tool spectrum.
For the Baltimore region, it is another in a long line of deals relocating corporate headquarters - and the decision-making power, charitable muscle and prestige they represent. Stanley would have controlling interest in the combined company, which would be named Stanley Black & Decker and headquartered in New Britain, Conn., where Stanley is located. The power tools division would remain in Towson.
Black & Decker spokesman Roger Young said there were about 1,500 workers in Maryland, mainly in the power tools division. Fewer than 250 work in corporate jobs - most of whom "will not likely be maintained," he said.
"This is pretty bad news for the state and the region," said Richard Clinch, director of economic research at the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute. "Black & Decker will be a division headquarters."
Some analysts called the deal a savvy move for two companies hurt by the slump in construction, and the companies described it as a merger of industry players on different sides of the tool spectrum.
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