3G Brazilians buy Hunter Douglas blinds company for $7.1 billion

3G Capital, from the trio of Brazilian billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira, acquired a majority stake in the Dutch company Hunter Douglas, a manufacturer of curtains and blinds for windows and architectural products. The value was $7.1 billion (BRL 40 billion) — this was the first major transaction by the global private investment group, which had been hungry for business since 2015.

For the New York-based group, which predominantly manages the money of its Brazilian founding partners and their wealthy friends, including the Santo Domingo family of Colombia and Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer, the deal ends a long hunt for a new business platform.

The deal represents entry into a relatively new sector for 3G Capital, which is best known for businesses in the food and beverage and fast food sector. His last big deal was in 2015, when he combined Kraft and Heinz.

Hunter Douglas, a publicly traded company based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, was controlled by the Sonnenberg family for over a hundred years, during which it grew from a machine tool manufacturing and distribution company in Düsseldorf, Germany, to a diversified group, with US$3.5 billion (R$19.5 billion) in revenues.

Under the terms of the deal, 3G Capital will own 75% of Hunter Douglas, while the Sonnenberg family will retain 25% of the company it founded in 1919. David Sonnenberg, the company’s current co-chief executive, will serve as executive chairman of the board.

João Castro-Neves, a senior partner at 3G Capital and a veteran executive at many of the companies owned by the investment group, will take over as Hunter Douglas’ new chief executive when the deal is finalized. Castro-Neves is a member of the board of Kraft Heinz and Restaurant Brands International, controlled by 3G Capital.

3G Capital, which had been hunting a deal since failing to orchestrate the $143 billion (BRL 797.9 billion) acquisition of Unilever in 2017, was sitting on about $10 billion (BRL 55.7 billion) ) of funds available to start a new business platform. Last year, she urged investors to hold their money longer as the pandemic and stratospheric valuations made it harder to find a suitable target.

The decision to acquire Hunter Douglas was led in part by Daniel Schwartz, who returned to 3G Capital in 2019 as co-directing partner of the group, along with Alex Behring.

Schwartz was responsible for revamping Burger King and later growing the holding Restaurant Brands International, which includes the Tim Hortons cafe chain and the Popeyes fast food chain.

“I am personally very excited to partner with João, Daniel and the partners at 3G Capital,” said Sonnenberg. “They have an expansive mindset and an operating style similar to ours, pragmatic, open-minded, informal and highly entrepreneurial. Like us, they believe in ‘business is people’ and in building a culture of ownership.”