Private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice is breaking unusual ground with the buyout of Sally Beauty Co. from Alberto-Culver: It’s keeping the company public. Yes, the New York-based p.e. firm expects to grab a 47.5% stake in the company in a deal worth about $3 billion, but instead of taking the company private, as private equity firms are wont to do, CDR is spinning it off as a separate public company with the p.e. firm its single largest shareholder, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The deal – which DJN says was aimed to find a “tax-free means of splitting off the unit” – is the culmination of efforts by Alberto-Culver and CDR going on for seven years. This spinoff structure – a so-called Morris trust – will relieve Alberto-Culver and its investors of any tax burden except for what they’ll have to pay on a special dividend. Another unusual aspect of the deal, reports DJN, is that for its 47.5% stake, CDR get to name only six of the new company’s12 directors plus the chairman – but even with that, experts say the p.e. will be able to effectively run the business.