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Oct 10 (Reuters) - Danaher Corp and CooperIndustries said they will sell their hand and powertools joint venture, Apex Tool Group, to Bain Capital for about$1.6 billion.
Danaher and Cooper each own a 50 percent stake in Apex,which makes Crescent wrenches, Lufkin measuring tapes and handtools for Sears Holdings Corp's Craftsman brand.
Danaher and Cooper, which is in the process of beingacquired by Eaton Corp for $11.8 billion, formed Apex in2010 by combining their tool businesses.
Apex's annual revenue is about $1.5 billion, according toits website. The joint venture was formed in July 2012 andemploys about 8,000 people across 30 countries.
Danaher said it will receive $650 million in net proceedsfrom the sale, which is expected to close in the first half of2013.
Reuters reported in September that Bain, the private equityfirm co-founded by U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney, wasclose to buying Apex, prevailing over Platinum Equity LLC andAmerican Securities LLC in an auction.
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing bySaumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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Keywords: DANAHER APEXTOOLGROUP/