Gypsum industry news

Türkiye: Competition authorities have approved France-based Saint-Gobain's merger of its Türkiye-based subsidiary Saint-Gobain Rigips with Dalsan Alçi. Regulatory News has reported that the companies have a combined gypsum wallboard capacity of 100Mm²/yr and sales of Euro160m. Dalsan Alçi is currently in the process of acquiring fellow producer Manisa Turgutlu.

UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has formally launched the first phase of a merger inquiry into the proposed acquisition by Saint-Gobain of GCP Applied Technologies. The competition body said that proposed merger had met the threshold for investigation under UK law. The CMA will now decide whether to refer the merger for further scrutiny by 21 September 2022.

Saint-Gobain said it had agreed to buy construction chemicals producer GCP Applied Technologies for Euro2bn in late 2021 with a conclusion date to the transaction by the end of 2022.

Germany: Fuchs Lubritech has merged into Fuchs Schmierstoffe. Following the merger, the latter also rebranded as Fuchs Lubricants Germany on 3 June 2022. Fuchs Lubricants Germany will assume all contractual responsibilities of Fuchs Lubritech.

Turkey: France-based Saint-Gobain and building materials producer Dalsan have signed a joint-venture agreement, pursuant to which they will merge their gypsum wallboard operations in Turkey. The merge will give the new joint venture a gypsum wallboard production capacity of over 100Mm²/yr. It will also see the companies’ plaster production consolidated under their new subsidiary.

The partners said “This partnership will offer Turkish customers access to the most innovative and complete portfolio of light and sustainable solutions for the construction and renovation of the building envelope, as well as internal partitioning.”

New Zealand: Germany’s Knauf and US-based USG have applied to the Commerce Commission asked for clearance for the two companies to merge. USG is active in New Zealand through its 50% interest in USG Boral Building Products, which supplies gypsum wallboard, suspended ceiling components and other building materials. Knauf is active in the import and supply of products used for modular suspended ceilings and insulation in New Zealand. The proposed merger is also to be assessed by competition authorities in several jurisdictions including Australia, USA and Singapore.

UK: Etex Group has merged Siniat, Promat and EOS Facades to create Etex Building Performance UK. The new division will combine technical knowledge and research and development resources in the dry construction sector. Etex intends to create new products aimed at reduced installation times whilst catering to specifiers' requirements.

The division will employ over 500 people, with production sites in Bristol, Yorkshire and County Durham. It will be led by Neil Ash, the managing director of Siniat UK, who will become Head of Etex Building Performance UK. Each company will continue to trade separately in the UK as Siniat, Promat and EOS Facades.

"Our vision is singular - to be the leading expert in dry construction, concentrating our efforts on creating solutions for the buildings of tomorrow. The three brands within Etex Building Performance complement each other and are well known for their innovation, high-quality manufacturing and technical know-how," said Ash.

Siniat produces drywall products and Promat specialises in passive fire protection. Siniat acquired EOS Facades, a provider of Steel Frame Systems, on 8 April 2016,

Worldwide: Holcim and Lafarge have announced their intention to merge the two companies. The new company, LafargeHolcim, will have a major presence in the global building materials sector with combined production sites in 90 countries across cement, concrete and aggregates sectors. Combined sales of the two companies would amount to around Euro32bn and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) would be Euro6.5bn.

Lafarge and Holcim confirmed that they would sell businesses worth 10 - 15% of the group's EBITDA to satisfy antitrust concerns, worth about Euro5bn in total. Two-thirds of the asset sales would be in Europe. The companies also have overlapping business operations in Canada, Brazil, India and China.

Lafarge sold the majority of its worldwide gypsum wallboard businesses in 2011 followed by the sale of its North American gypsum wallboard assets in 2013. However it retains plants in Mexico, South Africa and Turkey.