Wisconsin Business Briefs: Madison's Spectrum Brands to buy Black n' Decker/Stanley

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MADISON - The Madison company that makes Ray-o-Vac batteries and Remington shavers will soon get into the hardware business. Spectrum Brands said this morning it will acquire Stanley/Black n' Decker’s hardware and home improvement division for $1.4 billion.

The unit makes hardware, faucets, and locksets with brands that include Baldwin, Kwik-set, and Pfister. As part of the deal, Spectrum is also buying the Tong Lung Metal Industry Company of Taiwan, which makes home-and-commercial locksets. Spectrum says the acquisition will help broaden its product offerings.

Spectrum says it will finalize the Stanley/Black-and-Decker purchase in the first quarter of its next fiscal year – and the unit will operate separately from Spectrum’s other divisions. The Tong Lung purchase is due to be finished in the second quarter. Spectrum currently has three divisions – one that makes batteries and home appliances, one that makes weed-and-bug control products, and one that sells pet supplies.

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Wisconsin’s largest printing company will print more of Time Magazine’s publications starting in 2014. Quad/Graphics of Sussex said today it will expand the amount of business it now does with Time Incorporated by 35-percent. And for the first time, Quad will publish all of Time and People’s magazines throughout the country. The firm will also handle over 85-percent of the printing work for 19 magazines that include Sports Illustrated, Money, Golf, and Entertainment Weekly. Quad-Graphics will also add new titles as part of the deal – including Essence, Real Simple, and All-You magazines. CEO Joel Quadracci said his firm is pleased to grow its business relationship with Time – and to quote, “print more titles and more volume in more places.” He said it would capitalize on Quad-Graphics’ leading nationwide magazine platform.

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A Florida company that makes sweeteners has bought a plant in northwest Wisconsin. Sweet Additions of Palm Beach Gardens said today it has acquired the former Primera plant at Cameron. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Barron County facility makes natural and organic syrup solids and malto-dextrin that’s derived from tapioca, oats, and rice. The products are sold under the labels Tapi and Rice-Trin. Sweet Additions – the plant’s new owner – makes sweeteners for the food-and-beverage industries.

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A steel plant in Fond du Lac is getting bigger. McNeilus Steel has started building a 15-million dollar coil processing facility. The expansion will cover 96-thousand square feet, and the company says it will add 50 jobs in the next 3-to-5 years. General manager Greg Head says McNeilus will save on freight costs by processing steel coils in Fond du Lac instead of in Minnesota. McNeilus Steel has plants in Dodge Center Minnesota and Fargo North Dakota as well as Fond du Lac.

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