Stanley Black & Decker's Jim Loree Has Big Plans To Electrify Gas-Powered Tools, Trimmers And Mowers By Amy Feldman

Under CEO Jim Loree, the venerable toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker has bet heavily on acquisitions as a way to power up the company’s growth. Last time, we checked in with him (for a 2018 magazine story) it was Craftsman, the tool line once revered by DIY-ers that had collapsed under the Eddie Lampert regime at Sears. Today, it’s MTD Products, a manufacturer of outdoor power and lawn care equipment whose brands include Cub Cadet, Troy-Bilt and Robomow.

The $14.5 billion (revenue) company announced its plans to acquire the 80% of MTD it didn’t already own at the beginning of the year, following a blockbuster second half of 2020 as homeowners and landlords alike focused on renovations. “We are going to pay a little around $2 billion for MTD and will get around $3 billion in revenue,” Loree says. “We negotiated a very good price for it.”

Price and size is one thing, but what MTD really gives Stanley Black & Decker is a giant base of gas-powered mowers, trimmers and the like. Tools that run on batteries are quieter and better for the environment than gas-powered ones, and the shift to them is already underway.

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