PPG has completed the sale of its flat glass manufacturing and glass coatings operations to Vitro.
Conclusion of the transaction with Vitro S.A.B. de C.V., previously valued at $750 million in gross cash proceeds, was announced this week.
PPG’s flat glass business, which manufactures products for commercial and residential construction, included about 1,200 employees when the sale was announced in July.
The transaction was approved by the governing bodies of both companies and by relevant regulatory authorities in the United States and Canada, Vitro officials said.
Vitro also announced expansion of its coating production capability with the construction of a jumbo MSVD glass coater, which will be built at an existing location of the newly acquired business, though it was not disclosed at which facility the coater will be located.
MSVD coaters are used to produce high-performing, energy-efficient low-emissivity (low-e) glass, the company said. Vitro expects the projected coater to be the largest of its kind in North America.
“The company’s flat glass division has become a key business for Vitro, and this investment will allow us to strengthen it by offering a wider set of solutions to our customers,” Vitro CEO Adrian Sada said.
For PPG, the news marks a watershed moment.
Between the Vitro deal and a recent transaction to divest itself of European fiber glass operations, also completed, approximately 98 percent of PPG’s business portfolio will soon be focused on paints, coatings and specialty materials.
The PPG sites include production facilities in South Middleton Township, as well as Fresno, Calif.; Salem, Ore.; and Wichita Falls, Texas; in addition to distribution/fabrication facilities located across Canada; and a research-and-development center located in Harmar, near Pittsburgh.
The company was founded in 1883 as Pittsburgh Plate Glass.