Clayton & Dubilier was founded as a
turnaround management investment firm by
Martin H. Dubilier, Eugene Clayton and Bill Welsh in 1976.
Joseph L. Rice III joined in 1978, and the firm became known as Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 1992. In May 1985, CD&R acquired
Uniroyal for $750 million. In 1987, CD&R acquired
Borg-Warner's Industrial Products Division, spinning the division off into a standalone company, BW/IP International. the Tire Company was sold to
Michelin for $1.5 billion in 1989. In 1990, CD&R formed
Lexmark from
IBM's printer and keyboard manufacturing business. In 1995, CD&R acquired the foodservice division of
Kraft Foods Inc.. In December 1997, CD&R sold a minority stake in its electrical equipment distribution business for about $300 million, four years after buying it from CBS for $340 million. In 1998, Don Gogel was appointed CEO. Also in 1998, CD&R established an office in London. In 2001,
Jack Welch, former CEO of
General Electric, joined CD&R as a senior advisor. In 2003, CD&R purchased the global provider of water treatment products and services,
Culligan, from
Veolia for $610 million, which included $200 million in equity from a CD&R-managed fund and the remainder from senior debt and securities.
Centerbridge Partners acquired Culligan in 2012. In 2005, CD&R partnered with
Merrill Lynch,
The Carlyle Group and
Barclays to acquire
Hertz Global Holdings from
Ford Motor Company for $15 billion. In February 2011, CD&R acquired Emergency Medical Services, the largest provider of ambulance services in the U.S., for $3.2 billion. In August 2011, CD&R acquired 60% of Hussmann from
Ingersoll-Rand for $370 million. In 2012, Joe Rice stepped down as chairman, succeeded by Don Gogel. In October 2013, CD&R acquired a 60% stake in John Deere Landscapes (now SiteOne Landscape Supply) for $465 million; Deere & Co.retained a 40% stake. In 2015, CD&R sold Hussmann to Panasonic for $1.5 billion. Clayton Dubilier & Rice Fund X LP completed fundraising in 2017 with $10 billion of investor commitments. CD&R acquired a 60% stake of
Capco from
FIS for $477 million in May 2017; Capco was acquired in 2021 by
Wipro for $1.45 billion. In August 2017, the firm acquired the Waterworks division of
HD Supply for $2.5 billion, and changed its name to
Core & Main. In January 2018, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice acquired Ply Gem Holdings and Atrium Windows & Doors. In October 2018, the firm acquired a stake in
SmileDirectClub after investing $380 million. In February 2018, CD&R acquired a 60% stake in
American Greetings. In January 2019, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice invested alongside the founder of WSH Investments Ltd., Alistair Storey, to take a major stake in the business. In July 2019, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice was included on
Inc.'s list of the "50 Best Private Equity Firms for Entrepreneurs". In September 2019, CD&R acquired a stake in Socotec in a deal valuing Socotec at $1.98 billion. In January 2021, CD&R acquired
Wolseley UK, the largest supplier of plumbing and building materials in the UK, for £308 million. In October 2021,
CD&R purchased Morrisons, a British supermarket chain, which subsequently had financial difficulties. During its bid to acquire
Morrisons, CD&R faced accusations of
asset stripping, that it left former acquisition Culligans 'saddled with over $850 million of debt'. UK politicians warned against leaving Morrisons prey to asset strippers. In April 2022, CD&R acquired a 60% interest in
Kindred Healthcare, the hospice and personal care divisions of
Humana, for US$2.8 billion. In May 2022, CD&R acquired
Covetrus for $4 billion. In July 2022, CD&R purchased the remaining common stock of
Cornerstone Building Brands, completing its acquisition. Also in July 2022, CD&R acquired the facilities services business OCS Group. This was then followed by the merger of OCS and the UK, Ireland and Asia operations of facilities management company Atalian. In August 2023, funds affiliated by CD&R acquired
Focus Financial Partners for $7billion. In April 2024, CD&R agreed to acquire Presidio. In November 2023, CD&R acquired
Veritiv for $2.6 billion. In November 2024, funds managed by CD&R in partnership with
TowerBrook Capital Partners acquired
R1 RCM for $8.9 billion. In February 2025, CD&R agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Opella, from
Sanofi. In November 2025, CD&R agreed to acquire the packaging company
Sealed Air for a total enterprise value of $10.3 billion. ==References==