Hillenbrand sale progressing, but some questions remain

December 17, 2025/Finance/

I had almost forgot that Hillenbrand Inc., the former parent company of Batesville, had itself agreed to be sold to Lone Star Funds last August (2025). I was reminded of that transaction from this recent update in Financier Worldwide.

The $3.8 billion transaction “will take Hillenbrand private and marks a significant strategic shift for the Batesville, Indiana-based company” according to the aticle.

Again, according to the article, “Upon closing, Hillenbrand will become a privately held entity and its shares will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.”

The article does make these comments about the future closing of this transaction:

“Recent developments suggest the transaction faces challenges. Several institutional investors have filed lawsuits questioning whether the $32 per share offer reflects optimal value, citing Hillenbrand’s recent revenue decline of 24 percent and adjusted earnings per share down 40 percent. Regulatory scrutiny also looms, with approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) required due to potential national security considerations. The merger agreement includes reciprocal termination fees and an outside date of July 2026, allowing time to navigate these hurdles.

Despite these uncertainties, analysts maintain that the acquisition represents a logical conclusion to Hillenbrand’s strategic overhaul. For shareholders, the offer provides a clear exit at a premium, though the timeline may extend if litigation or regulatory delays persist.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: Hillenbrand, with different ownership, will apparently continue to be a going-concern operating company, but for me it somewhat brings an end to the historical parent company that made its way in funeral service with a history that can be traced back to John Hillenbrand’s original casket company founded in 1884.

Over the years, since I was growing up as a funeral director’s child, Hillenbrand was synonymous with quality and at one time or another had the brands of Hill-Rom, American Tourister, Medeco, and Batesville under their umbrella organization. I’ve been a stockholder off and on over my adult life, but did not own stock at the time of the Batesville sale or at the current time of the pending sale of the rest of the company to Lone Star.

Having a history of owning stock with the company has me wondering about the value that stockholders are getting at $32 per share. The linked article notes that the price per share at $32 is a 37% premium over what the stock was selling for at the time of the this current sale. However, if you go back to December 15, 2022, when the sale of the Batesville division was announced (the closing was in 2023) the stock price was at $44. . . . . and from my searching and the following answer from Gemini AI, stockholders apparently received no special dividend from that sale:

“Hillenbrand did not issue a special cash dividend to stockholders from the proceeds of the 2023 sale of Batesville. The company used the net proceeds from the sale primarily for debt reduction.”

So, if that is the case, then Hillenbrand stockholders are receiving a $32 per share price a little over three years after the stock was selling at $44 — that’s a 27% decrease in value after the announced sale of Batesville. I’m guessing that might be one of the reasons for the potential lawsuits, according to the linked article, about shareholders receiving “optimal value”.

It makes one think. . . maybe Hillenbrand should have sold off the rest of the company and held on to Death Care company Batesville instead of selling Batesville and holding on to the rest of the company. . . . .i.e. maybe Hillenbrand management sold the wrong company back in 2022.

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