American Standard Companies Inc.

Stock Symbol: ASD

1 Centennial Plaza
Piscataway, NJ 08855
732-980-6000 (phone)
732-980-6300 (fax)

Website: American Standard

Industry: General Building Materials

Index Membership: S&P 500; S&P 1500 Super Comp

American Standard Companies Inc. Description:
American Standard Companies Inc. is a manufacturer of brand name products in three major business segments: air conditioning systems and services (Air Conditioning); bath and kitchen fixtures and fittings, and vehicle control systems. Air Conditioning manufactures commercial and residential heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, systems and controls. Bath and Kitchen business manufactures bath and kitchen products. Vehicle Control Systems, operating under the WABCO name manufactures and sells advanced braking, stability, suspension and transmission control systems primarily for commercial vehicles. American Standard Companies employs over 62,000 people.

On February 1, 2007, American Standard's Board of Directors announced that it had completed a strategic review of the company and unanimously approved a plan to separate the three businesses that comprised the company at that time.

On July 23, 2007, American Standard announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to sell the company's worldwide Bath and Kitchen products business to funds advised by Bain Capital Partners, LLC, a leading global private investment firm, for $1.755 billion in cash.

At 11:59 on July 31,2007, American Standard completed the spinoff of their vehicle control systems business into a new publicly traded company to be called WABCO (NYSE: WBC).

American Standard Companies Inc. Financial Summary:
October 18, 2007 - American Standard Companies Inc. (NYSE: ASD) today announced third-quarter income from continuing operations (Trane Air Conditioning Systems and Services) of 63 cents per diluted share, up 5 percent from a year ago. Adjusted income from continuing operations was 65 cents per diluted share, up 8 percent from a year ago. Sales from continuing operations were $1.982 billion, up 7.7 percent. In accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), both WABCO and Bath and Kitchen are classified as discontinued operations.

American Standard Companies Inc. Business Summary:
American Standard traces its roots back to 1872, when John B. Pierce opened a tinware shop in Ware, Massachusetts. With the business skills he forged in this shop, he would later found the Pierce Steam Heating Company, one of three companies that would merge in 1892 to become the American Radiator Company.

In 1929, the American Radiator Company merged with The Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company. Products from the combined company could be found in about half of the homes in the U.S. and Europe. For the next 18 years, the business was known as the American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corporation.

By 1948, people had informally shortened the name of the company to American-Standard, so the company began to refer to itself by that name.