Weber Kettle Club Forums
Grill Talk => Weber Grill Forum (Grills, Accessories) => Topic started by: Hogsy on May 31, 2015, 11:16:51 PM
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I always thought it was still a family owned business but I was recently told the family sold the BBQ side of the business to PLP and kept the restaurant side of the business within the family
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Weber-Stephen Products
The Weber-Stephen Products LLC is a privately held American manufacturer of charcoal, gas and electric outdoor grills with related accessories.
In 2004, Weber-Stephen acquired some assets of competitor Ducane at a bankruptcy sale.
It also publishes grilling-related recipes and cook books.
The company was family owned until it sold a majority stake to BDT Capital Partners in 2010.
The 2010 BDT's acquisition did not include restaurant operations so the restaurants remained solely owned by the Stephen family. Although the brand name hasn't changed, they are now two separate companies with one focused on outdoor grills manufacturing and the other one focused on restaurants.
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What RSmims posted is correct. I decided to look more into BDT and found alot of interesting information with how Byron Trott, Chairman of BDT does business.
Excerpt from: http://fortune.com/2014/12/29/byron-trott-billionaires-banker/
The smoky aroma of barbecue wafts from the nearby kitchen at the Weber Grill, a bustling eatery in downtown Chicago. Jim Stephen, one of 12 children of the man who invented the original Weber grill (the iconic kettle-shaped barbecue that birthed an empire, including the restaurant group), revels in the homey ambiance as he tells his family story and how it became entwined with Byron Trott’s investment firm. Stephen was for many years CEO of Weber-Stephen Products, in the Chicago suburbs, and when he and his siblings wanted liquidity he snagged an introduction from another business owner to Trott, who was preparing to leave Goldman Sachs. After initially advising Weber-Stephen on its options, BDT bought a controlling stake in the company, retaining the family as investors but giving Stephen and some of his brothers and sisters control of their beloved restaurants.
The deal for Weber-Stephen was one of BDT’s first, in 2010, and it has all the markings of a BDT transaction. It took place three years after Trott and Stephen started talking, there wasn’t an auction to find the highest bidder, and some structural jujitsu resulted in satisfaction—financial and emotional—for all parties. Trott later added Lee Scott to the company’s board, a move Stephen says he’d never have dreamed of on his own. In retrospect, Stephen might have been able to get a higher price for his company, but then he would have been less confident about his father’s legacy. “Weber was successful because we built a quality product no matter what,” he says. “This means there were certain price points for grills we wouldn’t do. These are the hallmarks of a private business, which requires a certain kind of ownership. I got very comfortable with Byron and BDT being the next owner of Weber-Stephen.”
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I have to say I was very worried about Weber when they sold controlling stake to BDT and put in Thomas Koos as CEO. I didn't like a venture capitalist firm taking over for a family owned business. But if there recent products are any indicator (new master touch, upgraded Performers) I feel the new leadership may actually benefit the company and bring it back to it's roots. I'm excited to see what happens in the next five years. Should be very telling.
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I have to say I was very worried about Weber when they sold controlling stake to BDT and put in Thomas Koos as CEO. I didn't like a venture capitalist firm taking over for a family owned business. But if there recent products are any indicator (new master touch, upgraded Performers) I feel the new leadership may actually benefit the company and bring it back to it's roots. I'm excited to see what happens in the next five years. Should be very telling.
Don't forget cheesy thin grates & $69 WallyWorld 'special' kettles......some things are great & some are expansionist hubris..... :o
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Good point. I forgot about the "Walmart Special" kettle.
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The thin grates is more upsetting to me.
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That's why I try and hoard up on the old style non flip grates that Weber sold up until 5-6 years ago. I forget the part number but I actually prefer them to the flip grates and certainly like them better than the stock OTS/OK thin grates..
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I will say this: 2015 is the first year that I thought I could be happy using new grills. The new Performer and the new Mastertouch are really impressive machines, arguably better than their predecessors. I see myself happily cooking on them in about 20 years. ;-)
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I will say this: 2015 is the first year that I thought I could be happy using new grills. The new Performer and the new Mastertouch are really impressive machines, arguably better than their predecessors. I see myself happily cooking on them in about 20 years. ;-)
Spoken like a true GrillFella !!!!!
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I have to say I was very worried about Weber when they sold controlling stake to BDT and put in Thomas Koos as CEO. I didn't like a venture capitalist firm taking over for a family owned business. But if there recent products are any indicator (new master touch, upgraded Performers) I feel the new leadership may actually benefit the company and bring it back to it's roots. I'm excited to see what happens in the next five years. Should be very telling.
Don't forget more parts being made in China. I know the family owned had already started doing this, but now it seems even more of our beloved kettles are made over there.
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I have to say I was very worried about Weber when they sold controlling stake to BDT and put in Thomas Koos as CEO. I didn't like a venture capitalist firm taking over for a family owned business. But if there recent products are any indicator (new master touch, upgraded Performers) I feel the new leadership may actually benefit the company and bring it back to it's roots. I'm excited to see what happens in the next five years. Should be very telling.
Don't forget cheesy thin grates & $69 WallyWorld 'special' kettles......some things are great & some are expansionist hubris..... :o
Lee Scott, the new board member mentioned above is the former CEO of Wal-Mart. I wonder what kinds of deals they worked out. I would think that Walmart also like the fact that the 22" JJ boxes are shorter allowing them to fit more onto a pallet. Walmart takes that very seriously. I also bet that the went all out for cost reduction after the class action lawsuit forced them to not claim "Made in the USA"
To Mike's point though, I think Weber is doing a good job maintaining a good product line at all price points. The Summits are a thing of beauty.
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George wood eFin roll if he knew his Co. was whored out to a corporation. He was damn proud to have built such a strong family business.
"Stephen was always fond of pointing out that his company was a family business."
http://web.archive.org/web/20070623131242/http://weber.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=pageA&item=1
It'll never be the same
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What RSmims posted is correct. I decided to look more into BDT and found alot of interesting information with how Byron Trott, Chairman of BDT does business.
Excerpt from: http://fortune.com/2014/12/29/byron-trott-billionaires-banker/
The smoky aroma of barbecue wafts from the nearby kitchen at the Weber Grill, a bustling eatery in downtown Chicago. Jim Stephen, one of 12 children of the man who invented the original Weber grill (the iconic kettle-shaped barbecue that birthed an empire, including the restaurant group), revels in the homey ambiance as he tells his family story and how it became entwined with Byron Trott’s investment firm. Stephen was for many years CEO of Weber-Stephen Products, in the Chicago suburbs, and when he and his siblings wanted liquidity he snagged an introduction from another business owner to Trott, who was preparing to leave Goldman Sachs. After initially advising Weber-Stephen on its options, BDT bought a controlling stake in the company, retaining the family as investors but giving Stephen and some of his brothers and sisters control of their beloved restaurants.
GREED
Basically a set of "kept kids" (not business minds) wanted more money & less work "restaurant is fun & soo vogue..."
& that was the beginning of the fall...
I assure you they (kid$) have out$ourced management of operation$ & No VC company would want to invest in the slim profits & floundering business plan of a "keep ya busy" restaurant.
Besides I'm not going to pay to eat/serve what I'd rather recreate myself w/ family or friends.
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GREED
Basically a set of "kept kids" (not business minds) wanted more money & less work "restaurant is fun & soo vogue..."
& that was the beginning of the fall...
I assure you they (kid$) have out$ourced management of operation$ & No VC company would want to invest in the slim profits & floundering business plan of a "keep ya busy" restaurant.
Besides I'm not going to pay to eat/serve what I'd rather recreate myself w/ family or friends.
If that's true (and we don't really know that it is), then I would actually be happy that they sold to a capital group and put a new CEO in charge. It might not be family owned anymore, but at least the people in charge are "business people" who are actually 100% focused on the growing the business and the Weber brand.
I'll go back to my original statement: The next few years are going to be very interesting for Weber (and it's fans). We'll start to see where this new ownership is going to take the company long term. Are they going to push our winners (new master touch and new performer) or take Weber down market (crap walmart kettle and thin grates). I hope it's the former.....
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"If that's true (and we don't really know that it is), then I would actually be happy that they sold to a capital group and put a new CEO in charge. It might not be family owned anymore, but at least the people in charge are "business people" who are actually 100% focused on the growing the business and the Weber brand.
I'll go back to my original statement: The next few years are going to be very interesting for Weber (and it's fans). We'll start to see where this new ownership is going to take the company long term. Are they going to push our winners (new master touch and new performer) or take Weber down market (crap walmart kettle and thin grates). I hope it's the former....."
= gas BBQ's, not a bad thing, just the reality of profit...........
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Please keep the brand bashing to a minimum.
None of us know enough details of their business to intelligently discuss the reasons for ANY of their changes or methods.
We have a relationship with Weber, and we're obviously a community centered around one of their product lines.
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I love the brand & have High hopes for the physical product Company.
its just that I watched a rich man's son blow through nearly a million dollars "failing to start" a restaurant.
But it was such a COOL idea...
eg:
http://amazingribs.com/BBQ_articles/catering_business.html (http://amazingribs.com/BBQ_articles/catering_business.html)
Well written info, Now imagine double the problems expressed in this article then multiply 12 (family/kids) x # x # (employees, property, etc)
Business wise, they knew what they were doing separating from the NOVELTY money pit.
Hopefully they (WEBER inc) will listen to the fans & rea$onable customers...
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My biggest fear is their customer service becoming like other companies, hopefully the new management will understand how important that is to their customer base and not change anything there.
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Metal Mike, what's wrong with the Weber restaurants? From what I understand they offer a compelling service (food cooked with charcoal) serve as an advertising vehicle for the grills and memorabilia for the OLD grills, and oh yeah are expanding into other states (Ohio and Missouri, maybe others?) Are the Chicago locations in trouble or something?
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The change happened 5 years ago, and it took 2+ years to work the deal.
I think the brand is in good hands.
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@addicted-to-smoke, good points & I wish every business well*** I just hope they cashed out nicely as profit margins are thin in that arena & outsourced management can eat that up quick. & expanding could be trouble as bigger = bigger $$$
+ I enjoy & wonder if the family still does the grilling books, they offer compelling ideas, tho less adaptive techniques
***W/ Personal knowledge of "family business" potential troubles & associate knowledge of restaurant problems.