Owens Corning and Saint-Gobain have agreed to merge Owens Corning’s Reinforcements Business and Saint-Gobain’s Reinforcements and Composites Business (a part of the entity known as Vetrotex) into a new company that will be named OCV Reinforcements.
On July 27, 2006, Owens Corning and Saint-Gobain jointly announced that they were in discussions to merge their respective reinforcements and composites businesses, creating a global company in reinforcements and composite fabrics products, with worldwide revenues of $1.8 billion (1.5 billion) and 10,000 employees.
The agreement stipulates that the joint-venture will be owned 60% by Owens Corning and 40% by Saint-Gobain. After a minimum of four years, Saint-Gobain will have the option to sell its stake to Owens Corning, and Owens Corning will have the option to buy Saint-Gobain’s stake.
The Owens Corning Saint-Gobain joint-venture expects benefits in purchasing and procurement; operational and technological plant improvements; improved distribution costs; reduced administrative costs; and asset management optimization.
Owens Corning produces building materials including insulation, roofing, siding and manufactured stone veneer, as well as glass composite materials used in transportation, electronics, telecommunications and other high-performance applications. Owens Corning had sales of $6.3 billion in 2005.
Saint-Gobain Group specializes in the design, production and distribution of functional materials for the construction, industrial and consumer markets. The Group is organized into five business sectors: Flat Glass, High-Performance Materials, Construction Products, Building Materials Distribution and Packaging. Saint-Gobain had sales in 2006 of 41.6 billion.
  ;
More Breaking News