Reinforcing the deal

Owens Corning is to acquire Saint-Gobain's reinforcement and composites business for $640m.

The acquired business is comprised of 20 plants, which includes 12 glass fibre reinforcements plants, six fabrics plants and two plants that produce both reinforcements and fabrics.

In 2006, the acquired Saint-Gobain reinforcement and composites business had sales of approximately $900m, with approximately 4,500 employees. With the acquisition, the expanded Owens Corning composites business will have 42 production facilities in 16 countries, about 9,000 employees and  sales of approximately $2.2bn, compared with reported sales in 2006 of $1.6bn.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2007 and remains subject to regulatory approval in several jurisdictions, along with customary closing conditions.

Owens Corning will divest its facilities in Battice in Belgium, Birkeland in Norway and Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, to address regulatory concerns related to the transaction. Its Wichita Falls, Texas, facility of Saint-Gobain is not part of the transaction.

The acquisition, net of the planned divestitures, increases Owens Corning's installed glass fibre manufacturing capacity by 500,000 tons, bringing the company's installed capacity to 1.3m tons annually, 25 percent of which is in developing countries and emerging markets.