Grill Maker Weber-Stephen Products Acquired by Byron Trott's BDT Capital

Weber-Stephen Products Co., the closely held maker of Weber charcoal and gas grills, said investment firm BDT Capital Partners LLC will acquire a majority stake in the company.

Terms weren’t disclosed. Bank of America Corp. was Weber’s financial adviser, and the transaction is expected to close in December, Palatine, Illinois-based Weber said in a statement today. The Stephen family, which has owned the company since it was founded by George Stephen in 1952, will retain the four Weber-branded restaurants and work with BDT as a minority investor in the grill maker.

BDT Capital, based in Chicago, is backed by Byron Trott, a former banker at Goldman Sachs. Trott facilitated Warren Buffett’s $4.5 billion acquisition of Marmon Holdings Inc., a holding company with manufacturing and servicing businesses, in 2008 and the $1.45 billion takeover of consumer products distributor McLane Co. in 2003. BDT Capital oversees a $2 billion fund, according to the statement.

“This investment is a perfect example of our business model -- to partner and invest alongside best-in-class and enduring family businesses with strong management teams and loyal customers,” Trott said in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Marcinek in New York lmarcinek3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net.