Private Equity · Profile from Private Equity Research Companion
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R)
Headquarters: New York (with a major London office) · Founded: 1978 (as Clayton & Dubilier; renamed CD&R in the early 1990s) · Strategy: Large-cap and upper-mid-market buyouts in North America and Western Europe, with a heavy emphasis on corporate carve-outs and operational transformation · Defining trait: the original "operating partner" private equity firm — former CEOs sit alongside financial partners and often chair portfolio companies.
13 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1986
OM Scott and Sons
Divisional Carve-out LBO
1988
Uniroyal Goodrich Tire
Buyout of Industrial JV / Strategic Sale
1991
Lexmark
Corporate Carve-out from IBM
1996
Kinkos
Minority Growth Recapitalisation, later Control
2005
Hertz
Corporate Carve-out / Club LBO
2007
ServiceMaster
Take-Private
2007
US Foodservice
Corporate Carve-out Club Deal
2011
Emergency Medical Services Corp
Take-Private
2012
B and M Retail
Majority Investment in Founder-Owned Business
2013
SiteOne Landscape Supply
Corporate Carve-out
2017
Core and Main
Corporate Carve-out
2021
Morrisons
Contested Public-to-Private
2024
Opella
Controlling-Stake Carve-out