On 05/21/2017 9:03 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
....

They have three options.
Keep buying from existing suppliers and make a profit on the resale.
After 15 years phase out the existing suppliers and take over manufacturing
Phase out the Craftsman brand. That can be done at any time.

It is not uncommon to buy a competitor and shut them down.

With the clarification you mean Stanley by "they", that's certainly
_not_ "their" options...

Nothing indicates Sears sold the manufactured _product_ or the contracts
they have in place for future product; in fact the Stanley releases
imply that. Stanley has to either negotiate additional output from
existing suppliers Sears has under contract or produce product on their
own.

But they have no obligation 15-yr deal or not to use existing contracts
and indicate they structured the deal specifically to not incur any
Sears obligation Sears might be unable to fulfill.

They indicate they do intend to expand US manufacturing facilities to
supply product.

Sears, otoh, has the ability to continue to sell and develop product
essentially unchanged until the 15yr window expires at which time they
must pay royalties. That is, of course, the big if of it they're still
around that long.

Stanley put out a presentation that covers their viewpoint at the time
of the sale announcement that gives some insight to their thinking. I
think they're all wet, but they didn't ask!

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NjU2MjMwfENoaWxkSUQ 9MzYyMzAzfFR5cGU9MQ==&t=1

Another mag's take...

http://forgingmagazine.com/forming/new-plant-may-follow-stanley-black-decker-craftsman-deal

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