Harvey R. Blau era (1982–2008)
Following Edward Garrett's death in 1982, Blau was named chairman of the board and CEO.[20][21] Blau accelerated Garrett's divestiture and cost-cutting plan and sold the company's window, lighting and metal casting operations.[21] The company also raised capital via a rights offering to existing shareholders, boosting shareholder equity from $4.6 million to $33.7 million and reducing long-term debt.[22] ISC's subsidiaries also successfully secured new business. Telephonics received orders to develop components for the central integrated test system of Rockwell International's B-1B bomber, communications and radio control systems for Lockheed S-3A aircraft and Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS MK III helicopters, and a new advanced audio communications system for NASA's Space Shuttle orbiter spaceplane.[13]
In addition to strengthening ISC's existing lines of business, Blau diversified revenues by acquiring companies in unrelated industries. In 1984, ISC acquired troubled clothing manufacturer Oneita Knitting Mills, Inc., for $14 million.[23] Blau and his team renamed the company Oneita Industries, restructured its finances, and grew it to the country's third-largest maker of specialty T-shirts, tripling sales to $300 million within a few years. ISC took Oneita public in 1988, selling 34% of shares for about $9 million, and had divested the remainder of the company by 1993.[24][25]
The purchase of Clopay Corporation in 1986 for $37 million represented ISC's most successful diversification effort under Blau.[26] Founded as a paper wholesaler in 1859, this Cincinnati-based company started to produce window coverings during World War II and subsequently changed its name to Clopay, a portmanteau of "cloth and paper."[27][28] Clopay entered the plastic film and garage door business in 1952 and 1966, respectively.[13] It grew in the 1990s and 2000s, becoming a leading manufacturer of residential garage doors in the United States and one of the suppliers of plastic films for diapers, surgical gowns, and drapes. In 1991, Clopay accounted for 70% of ISC's $50 million operating income.
In 1994, Blau moved the company's stock from the American Stock Exchange to the more prestigious New York Stock Exchange, and changed its name to Griffon Corporation after the mythical half-lion, half-eagle.[29]
Griffon continued to grow from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s. Sales surpassed the $1 billion mark in 1999 and $1.5 billion mark in 2006.[30][31] Clopay Plastics formed a joint venture named Finotech with German-based Corovin GmbH to manufacture specialty plastic films and laminates in Europe in 1996, taking a 60% stake in the new company.[13] Finotech provided Clopay Plastics with a platform for further international expansion. Clopay purchased Bohme Verpackungsfolien GmbH & Co., a German manufacturer of plastic packaging and specialty films in 1998 and a 60% stake in Isofilme Ltda, a Brazilian manufacturer of plastic hygienic and specialty films, in 2002. Three years later, Clopay acquired full ownership in Finotech and Isofilme.[32] Telephonics won its first contract for more than $100 million in 1997. It received $114 million from the British Royal Air Force to supply communications equipment to upgrade Nimrod anti-submarine airplanes. However, Telephonics reduced its overall dependence on military contracts and expanded its commercial and nondefense government business. It won a $26 million contract to supply wireless communications equipment for 1,080 New York City Subway cars in 1997.[33]
Griffon's garage door subsidiary expanded in step with the residential housing boom in the United States. It added a home installation service for residential building products such as garage doors, manufactured fireplaces, floor coverings, and cabinetry. In 1997, Griffon purchased Holmes-Hally Industries for about $35 million. Holmes-Hally was a West Coast manufacturer and installer of residential garage doors and related hardware with $80 million in annual sales.[34] By 2006, the installation services subsidiary served 17% of all new residential housing in the United States.[35]
The 2000s United States housing market correction and subsequent Subprime mortgage crisis and the 2008 financial crisis caused net sales of the garage doors subsidiary to decline by 13% in 2007 and 10.5% in 2008, with operating profits decreasing from $41 million in 2006 to $7 million in 2007 to -$17 million in 2008.[36][37] Net sales of the installation services subsidiary shrunk from $309 million in 2006 to $251 million in 2007 to $109 million in 2008, forcing Griffon to discontinue the installation services business in 2008. Griffon's overall net income shrunk from $52 million to $22 million to -$41 million in the same time period. Griffon also came under pressure from shareholders during this crisis. In 2007, the hedge fund Clinton Group, which was Griffon's second-largest shareholder at 8.5%, urged the company to boost its share price by purchasing 50% of the shares outstanding and also demanded the right to appoint the majority of Griffon directors.[38]
