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| Owens Corning & Saint-Gobain to merge businesses Owens Corning and Saint-Gobain jointly announced that they are in discussions to merge Owens Corning's Reinforcements Business and Saint-Gobain's Reinforcement and Composites Businesses (a part of the entity known as Vetrotex) into a new company, to be called Owens Corning-Vetrotex Reinforcements. The partnership of these two businesses would establish a global company in reinforcements and composite fabrics products, with worldwide revenues of approximately $1.8 billion (€1.5 billion) and 10,000 employees. The new company would have operations across Europe, North and South America, and Asia, including the following key emerging markets: China, India, Russia, Mexico and Brazil. Saint-Gobain's Textile Solutions business, serving mainly construction markets, will remain part of Saint-Gobain's High Performance Materials Sector. Owens Corning's Veil Technologies and Fabwel businesses will remain part of the Owens Corning Composite Solutions Business. The transaction would be structured as a joint venture, with Owens Corning owning a 60 percent equity interest and Saint-Gobain owning the remaining 40 percent. After a minimum of four years, the joint venture provisions would give an option to Saint-Gobain to sell its 40 percent stake to Owens Corning, and Owens Corning to buy the same. On a pro forma basis, the new company would have approximately $1.8 billion (€1.5 billion) in annual revenues. The Owens Corning-Saint-Gobain joint venture would present significant opportunities for synergies. The transaction is expected to close by early 2007 and is subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive transaction documents, Board of Directors approval by the parent companies, and regulatory and antitrust approvals. Owens Corning-Vetrotex Reinforcements would be headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, and would maintain leadership offices in key locations around the world. The Board of Directors for the new company would be comprised of three representatives from Owens Corning and two from Saint-Gobain. The Chief Executive Officer of Owens Corning-Vetrotex Reinforcements would be Chuck Dana, currently President of Owens Corning's Composite Solutions Business. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |