In June 1978, four individuals launched Clayton, Dubilier & Rice with a unique investment style, strategy, and improbable combination of temperaments, skills, and talents. As Joe Rice recalls, “In many respects, it wasn’t really a business but a personal effort by a close-knit group, which wasn’t exactly sure where it was headed, but shared a sense of common values and a conviction that combining operating and financial skills would produce better investment results.”

From its first day in business, CD&R pursued what the 1995 Harvard Business Review article, “Rehabilitating the Leveraged Buyout,” called “the operating LBO,” as opposed to the “traditional pure-finance LBO.”

Over the next four decades, CD&R's reputation as a business builder grew. The Firm tackled complex divestitures and became known as a problem solver working alongside management teams and family owners to help businesses achieve their full potential.

In 1983, the Firm acquired Harris Graphics in what was, at the time, the largest ever corporate divestiture accomplished through a private equity structure. In 1985, the Firm established its reputation for being a constructive partner to corporations by acting as a “white knight,” helping Uniroyal fend off a hostile activist investor. In 1991, IBM selected CD&R to carve out its printer and supplies business lines, which became Lexmark *.

In the early 2000s, CD&R further expanded its operating resources, global footprint, and depth of industry experience. 

CD&R funds engaged GE's legendary former chief executive Jack Welch in 2001. Later, Sir Terry Leahy, former CEO of Tesco, and Jim McNerney, former CEO of Boeing, became CD&R Senior Advisors *.  Over the years, CD&R and its funds have attracted industry luminaries across consumer/retail, healthcare, industrial, and technology/business services sectors from such companies as BBA, Boeing, Danaher, Disney, Emerson Electric, GAP, GE, IBM, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Tesco, Unilever, and many others. Many of these executives joined the Firm's London office, which opened in 1998, as CD&R built up its European capabilities and track record. 

CD&R continues to partner with corporations, families, and other ownership groups on innovative transactions that provide full or partial liquidity, as well as strategic solutions and operating value addition. Whether a dip in capital markets, a large corporation refocusing its portfolio, or a family seeking to transition to institutional or public ownership, CD&R’s seller-friendly investment approach, which relies on creating value over the long term, is as relevant today as it was when the Firm first opened its doors.