[Reinforced Plastics] Owens-Corning & Saint-Gobain Discuss Merger

Owens Corning (Toledo, Ohio / USA; www.owenscorning.com) and Saint-Gobain (Paris / France; www.saint-gobain.com) are discussing a merger of their reinforced plastics businesses and the composites activities of Saint Gobain subsidiary Vetrotex. The new company, to be called Owens Corning-Vetrotex Reinforcements, would have annual sales of around EUR 1.5 bn and 10,000 employees in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Owens Corning would have a 60% stake, with an option to buy out its partner after four years.