Jeld-Wen, once Oregon's largest private company, moves to North Carolina

'Providence Park' sign goes up at the former Jeld-Wen Field

A worker operates the crane that's lifting the second of three parts to the new "Providence Park" sign being installed at the Timbers' and Thorns' home stadium in February 2014, ending the "Jeld-Wen Field" era in downtown Portland

(The Oregonian/Oregonlive)

If Oregon's once-largest private company leaves the state and no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Jeld-Wen Inc., for decades a multinational window-and-door manufacturer based in Oregon, has quietly moved its global headquarters from Klamath Falls to Charlotte, N.C., as it reportedly plans a $4 billion initial public offering. Oregon state corporate records show that the company, founded in 1957, changed its registration to Delaware on July 14.

The Charlotte Business Journal reported this week that Jeld-Wen Holdings Inc. now calls the city its global headquarters. The newspaper quoted Darcie Meihoff, a spokeswoman for the company. On Thursday, she confirmed the move to The Oregonian/Oregonlive.

"The executive management team and corporate headquarters are located in Charlotte," Meihoff wrote in an email. "That transition hasn't happened all at once, but it has been evolutionary over time. However, the company considers Charlotte its global headquarters."

The move completes a quiet corporate transition out of Oregon, where Jeld-Wen once cut a high profile, employing thousands and holding the naming rights as recently as 2014 to the Portland stadium now known as Providence Park.

The company, which long formed the economic backbone of Klamath Falls, nearly went under during the housing crash, but sold its majority ownership for $871 million in 2011 to Onex Corp., a Canadian private-equity firm. Executives at first denied rumors that Jeld-Wen would move its North American headquarters to Charlotte, but it did so in 2012, to be closer to East Coast customers.

At the time of Onex's rescue, Jeld-Wen employed about 1,200 in Oregon at its headquarters and two factories. It had about 20,000 employees worldwide.

Jeld-Wen still has the same approximate number of worldwide workers, Meihoff said.

"Jeld-Wen has more employees in Oregon than any other state," said Meihoff, who did not provide a current figure. "Jeld-Wen still has significant manufacturing operations and leadership positions, including a robust research and development division and manufacturing facilities, located in Oregon.

Jeld-Wen also announced Tuesday that it would buy Aneeta Windows of Australia for an undisclosed amount. Jeld-Wen officials would not say how many employees were involved in the deal.

"The company does not provide information on specific numbers of employees by individual markets," Meihoff wrote in her email.

The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 3 that Jeld-Wen was working on a potential IPO that would value the company at as much as $4 billion.

That valuation would give Onex a huge profit from its acquisition. The 2011 sale gave Jeld-Wen an implied value of $1.5 billion.

Moody's Corp. says Jeld-Wen reported $3.5 billion in revenue in the fiscal year that ended in March.

Company co-founder Richard Wendt, a philanthropist who gave millions to conservative and community causes, died five years ago. At that time, the company was a $2-billion-a-year business.

-- Richard Read

503-294-5135, rread@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter:  @ReadOregonian

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