Family-Owned Industrial Conglomerate Standard Industries To Buy Chemical Giant W.R. Grace For $7 Billion

For nearly six months, Standard Industries co-CEOs David Millstone and David Winter have been trying to acquire specialty chemicals firm W.R. Grace. Today, they succeeded, reaching an agreement to buy all outstanding shares, at a price of $70 cash, for a total transaction value of some $7 billion.

New York city-based Standard’s related investment arm, 40 North, already owns 14.9% of the common shares. The deal, which includes investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management

APO
as a capital partner, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Forbes profiled Standard Industries, the parent of the country’s largest roofing company, GAF, earlier this month. The industrial powerhouse, which ranked No. 69 on Forbes’ list of America’s largest private companies, dates back to 1983, when corporate raider Sam Heyman, a one-time member of…