Window and door manufacturer Jeld-Wen Holding Inc. is building a new corporate campus and training center in Charlotte, N.C., where it plans to hire 200 employees.
Few details about the development, including its exact location, size and cost, have been released by the company, which operates 113 manufacturing facilities in 19 countries and has 20,600 employees worldwide.
Founded in 1960 in Klamath Falls, Ore., Jeld-Wen moved its global headquarters out of that state in 2012 and has housed a small executive staff in Charlotte. The move came a year after Onex Corp, a Canadian private equity firm, acquired majority ownership of the business for $871 million.
The company did not respond to questions. Jeld-Wen reportedly is in a quiet period as it pursues an initial public offering.
Jeld-Wen announced it was seeking an IPO in June, then two months later the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is on a dual track with officials “sounding out potential buyers.”
Jeld-Wen posted net sales of $3.38 billion in 2015 and a profit of $98 million for the 12-month period that ended March 26, according to its registration statement with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. Sales was down from $3.5 billion in 2014.
Door sales accounted for 65 percent of the 2015 total for Jeld-Wen, which has a wide line of interior and exterior products made of wood veneer, composite wood, steel, glass and fiberglass. Sales of wood, vinyl and aluminum windows made up 24 percent, followed by ancillary products, such as shower enclosures and cabinets.
About 47 percent of sales went to the residential repair and remodel market and 43 percent into new construction.
As for its own new construction, Jeld-Wen is planning a multi-million project for its new headquarters and will be eligible to receive up to $2.4 million in reimbursements over a 12-year period from the state's Jobs Development Investment Grant program if it meets hiring and investment targets. That's according to a news release from the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC).
Jeld-Wen will fill new positions for administration, management and support staff with an average total yearly payroll of $15 million plus benefits, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce.
A summary of the IPO prospectus says Jeld-Wen recently hired more than 20 engineers in North America to work with product line managers to identify unmet market needs and come up with new products.
Jeld-Wen intends to use the net proceeds from an IPO for working capital and general corporate purposes, including sales and marketing, as well as to invest in or acquire complementary businesses, products, technologies, or other assets, the registration statement says.
The company launched a new marketing effort in April aimed at training builders, remodelers, architects and dealers about selecting and installing windows and doors. The three-pronged program consists of four mobile showroom trucks filled with products to visit dealers and retailers; four regional learning centers for “deep-dive training” into product features, installation techniques and specifying products for the right applications; and online courses from introductory to advanced.
Companies with IPOs in the pipeline have a chance to get them done before Thanksgiving but most will come in the first full two weeks of December, according to Renaissance Capital's IPO calendar.