Background
During SGV Investments' ownership, JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. (“JELD-WEN”) was one of the two global manufacturers of residential and light commercial interior and exterior doors and is one of the largest manufacturers of residential windows in North America. Its products were predominantly sold through retail home centers and wholesale distributors in over 85 countries across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.
Active Ownership
During its investment period, Onex worked closely with the company on the following:
- Building a world-class management team: recruited the Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer;
- Establishing the company’s operational improvement program to systematically transform JELD-WEN’s business practices, reduce cost and increase performance;
- Improving the company’s financial reporting, planning and analysis capabilities as well as its information technology functions; and
- Initiating a program of strategic acquisitions that resulted in 16 transactions.
Investment Results
SGV Investments worked closely with JELD-WEN to take the business public in January 2017 and subsequently executed numerous secondary share sales, with the final remaining stake sold in August 2021. The investment from the SGV Investments Partners III Group resulted in a 2.9 times gross multiple of capital invested and a gross rate of return of 20%.