Many popular tool brands have made big names for themselves, but are actually part of larger corporate families. Complicating things further, brands can change hands during acquisitions, mergers, and spin-offs.
To help you sort things out, we put together the following guide, identifying the most popular tool brands and the companies that own or are affiliated with them.
Please note that these are not full lists of brands each parent company owns. This list highlights construction, industrial, DIY, and other tool-related brands, with the focus mainly on hand and power tool brands.
This guide discusses the following parent companies: Stanley Black & Decker, Tectronic Industries (TTI), Bosch, Fortive, Apex Tool Group, TTS Tooltechnic Sytsems, KKR, Chervon, Emerson, Werner, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), JPW, Snap-on, Ideal, Newell Rubbermaid, Delta PEC, Kyocera, and Positec.
This information was updated and republished on June 25th, 2020. Although infrequent, brand ownership can change. Please let us know if you discover an inaccuracy in this listing.
Table of Contents
Stanley Black & Decker (including Dewalt, Craftsman, Irwin)
TTI/Tectronic Industries (including Milwaukee, Ryobi, Empire Level, Ridgid Power Tools)
Bosch (including Bosch, Freud, Dremel)
Fortive (including Fluke, Matco)
Apex Tool Group (including Crescent, Gearwrench, Wiss)
Festool Group (TTS Tooltechnic Systems, including Festool, SawStop)
KKR (including Metabo, Metabo HPT)
Chervon (including EGO, Skilsaw)
Emerson
Werner
ITW (including Paslode, Tapcon)
JPW Industries (including Jet, Wilton, Powermatic)
Snap-on
Ideal Industries
Newell Rubbermaid
Delta Power Equipment
Kyocera (Senco)
Positec
Stanley Black & Decker
Headquarters: New Britain, CT, USA
Construction and DIY (CDIY)
- Black & Decker
- Bostitch
- Dewalt
- Porter Cable
- Stanley
- Irwin (Acquired in 2017)
- Lenox (Acquired in 2017)
- Craftsman (Acquired in 2017)
Hilmor(Acquired in 2017, sold to DiversiTech in August 2018)
Industrial
- Blackhawk (Proto)
- Bost
- Britool
- Facom
- Lista
- Mac Tools
- Pastorino
- Powers
- Proto
- Sidchrome
- USAG
- Vidmar
More Info (via Stanley Black & Decker)
Irwin Tool Brands (Sold to Stanley Black & Decker in 2017)
- Irwin
- Hanson
- Marathon
- Marples
- Quick-Grip
- Record (vises)
- Speedbor
- Strait-Line
- Vise-Grip
- Unibit
More Info (via Irwin)
Techtronic Industries (TTI)
Headquarters: Hong Kong, China
Power and Hand Tool Brands
- AEG
- Empire Level (owned by Milwaukee Tool, as of mid-2014)
- Hart
- Imperial Blades (acquired by Milwaukee Tool in 2018)
- Milwaukee Tool
- Ryobi
- Stiletto (owned by Milwaukee Tool, as of 2007)
Milwaukee Tool is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
TTI owns the Ryobi power tools and accessories division in the USA, North America, the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, but Ryobi is also an independent company with separate product lines in some other parts of the world.
TTI also develops and produces Ridgid power tools, under a licensing agreement with Emerson. This arrangement began back in 2003 (press release, PDF).
Home Appliance Brands
- Dirt Devil
- Homelite
- Hoover
- Vax
More Info (via TTI)
Robert Bosch GmbH
Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany
Power Tools and Accessories
- Bosch
- CST/berger
- Dremel
- Freud (and Diablo)*
- RotoZip
Skil(Sold to Chervon)- Vermont American
*Bosch purchased Freud’s power tool accessories segment in December 2008, namely their saw blades, router bits, and cutters division.
Automotive Tools and Equipment
- Accu-turn
- Actron
- Beissbarth
- OTC
- Robinair
- Sia Abrasives
- Sunpro
Gardening Tools
Gilmour(Sold to Fiskars)Nelson(Sold to Fiskars)
More Info (PDF via Bosch North America 2013 Publication)
Fortive (Formerly Danaher)
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., USA
- Matco
Test & Measurement
- Amprobe
- Fluke
- Keithley
- Pomona Electronics
- Tektronix
Fortive was spun off from Danaher in mid-2016.
More Info (via Fortive)
Apex Tool Group
Headquarters: Sparks, MD, USA
(Apex Tool Group was a joint venture between Danaher and Cooper industries, and is presently owned by Bain Capital.)
Hand, Electrical, Industrial Tool Brands
In late 2017, many Apex Tool Group hand tool brands were rebranded under the Crescent Tools label.
(Apex Tool Group’s most popular and well-known brands are in bold.)
- Airetool
Allen- Apex
ArmstrongRead More about the closure- Atkins
- Belzer
- Campbell
- Cleco
- Collins
- Crescent
- Delta (Truck Boxes)
- Diamond
- DGD
- Doler
- Dotco
- Erem
- Gearwrench
- Geta
- H.K. Porter
- Iseli
- Jacobs Chuck
- Jobox
- KD Tools
- K&F
- Lufkin
- Master Power
- Mayle
- Metronix
- Niagara Tools
- Nicholson
- Plumb
- Quackenbush
- Recoules
- Sata
- Spline Gauges
- Utica
- Weller
- Wiss
- Xcelite
More Info (via Apex Tool Group)
TTS Tooltechnic Systems
Headquarters: Wendlingen, Germany
- Festool
- Tanos (Systainers)
- Cleantec
- Microcell
- Narex
- SawStop
- Shaper Tools
- Schneider Airsystems
SawStop was acquired by TTS Tooltechnic Systems in 2017.
Shaper Tools, a handheld CNC Router technology company, was acquired in 2019.
KKR
Headquarters: New York, NY, USA
- Metabo HPT/HiKoki – formerly known as Hitachi Power Tools
- Metabo
KKR acquisition of Hitachi Power Tools and Metabo was announced in early 2017.
Hitachi Power Tools was rebranded to Metabo HPT (North America) and HiKoki (internationally).
Chervon
Headquarters: China
- EGO (outdoor power tools and equipment)
- Devon
- Flex
- Skilsaw (acquired from Bosch in 2017)
- Skil (acquired from Bosch in 2017)
- X-Tron
- Hammerhead
- Calmdura
Chervon is also an OEM that produces cordless power tools for other brands, including private label brands such as Lowes’ Kobalt 24V Max brushless power tools line.
More Info (via Chervon)
Emerson Tools
Headquarters: St. Louis, MO, USA
- Greenlee – as of 2018
- Klauke – as of 2018
- Ridgid
- ProTeam
- Workshop
Emerson also manufactures wet/dry vacuums under Dirt Hound, and goClean brands.
Emerson acquired Greenlee from Textron in 2018, along with Klauke and Paladin (acquired by Greenlee in 2007).
Greenlee and Rothenberger engaged in a joint venture agreement for handling the North American market, lasting from 2004 thru 2015.
Ridgid power tools sold exclusively by Home Depot are developed, produced, and marketed by TTI. Ridgid hand tools and other plumbing and professional industry tools are not included in the arrangement.
More Info (via Emerson)
Werner Co.
Headquarters: Greenville, PA, USA
- Bailey
- Green Bull
- Keller
- Knaack
- Weather Guard
- Werner
More Info (via Werner Co)
Illinois Tool Works (ITW)
Headquarters: Glenview, IL, USA
- Buildex
- Duo-Fast
- Kester
- Hobart
- Miller
- Paslode
- Racor
- Ramset
- Red Head
- Tapcon
More Info (via ITW)
JPW Industries/WHM Tool Group/Walter Meier Manufacturing
Headquarters: New York City, NY, USA
JPW Industries is currently owned by Gamut Capital Management, a private equity firm (as of July 2017)
- JET Tools
- Powermatic
- Wilton
Other JPW Brands
- Edwards Manufacturing
- Promac
- Tool Air
- GYS
More Info (via JPW)
Snap-on Incorporated
Headquarters: Kenosha, WI, USA
- Snap-on
- Acesa
- ATI
- Bahco
- Blue Point
- CDI Torque
- Irazola
- Irimo
- Lindstrom
- Palmera
- Sioux
- Wanda
- Williams
(These companies fall into four groupings – Snap-on, Snap-on Industrial, SNA Europe, and Snap-on Specialty Tools, with some overlap.)
More Info: Snap-on Incorporated, Snap-on Industrial, SNA Europe
Ideal Industries
Headquarters: Sycamore, IL, USA
- Ideal
- Anderson Power
- Casella Measurement
- Pratt-Read
- SK Hand Tools
- Trend Communications
Western Forge(Closing as of Feb 2020)
More Info (via Ideal)
Newell Rubbermaid
Headquarters: Atlanta, GA, USA
- Dymo
HilmorLenox(Sold to Stanley Black & Decker)- Rubbermaid Commercial Products
Sharpie
Irwin Tool Brands (Sold to Stanley Black & Decker)
More Info: Newell Rubbermaid
Delta Power Equipment Corporation (Chang Type Industrial)
Headquarters: Anderson County, SC, USA (Delta PEC); Taichung City, Taiwan (Chang Type)
- Biesemeyer
- Delta
More Info (via ToolGuyd)
Kyocera
Headquarters: Japan (Kyocera Parent Corporation)
Kyocera acquired Senco, known for their air compressors and nailers.
Kyocera also acquired Ryobi, but not the Ryobi brand that North America users are familiar with – that brand’s tools and accessories North America business is still owned by TTI.
- Senco
- Aerfast Europe BV (formerly Van Aerden Group BV, a European pneumatic tools brand)
- Ryobi (not the Ryobi most USA readers are familiar with)
Positec
- Rockwell
- Worx
Positec has also been known to manufacture tools for other brands.
More Info (via Positec)
Reader Recommendations
Which other companies should be added to this guide to corporate tool brands?
Independent Brands
Makita is one of few remaining power tool brands not owned by a larger corporation. Fein and Hilti are also independent.
There are very many hand tool and tool storage brands that remain independent. They’re not listed here, although you can inquire about your favorite brands if you’re unsure.
