A definitive agreement announced late last year will see Paris-based Saint-Gobain acquire GCP Applied Technologies, Alpharetta, Ga., in a deal valued at about $2.3 billion. The business combination was unanimously approved by GCP directors and their counterparts at Saint-Gobain, which in spring 2021 closed on the French parent company of Chryso Inc. and counts among its North American operations the CertainTeed insulation, roofing, siding and veneer stone business. Interest in concrete admixtures and construction chemicals was informed by Saint-Gobain’s 2015-2016 pursuit of a controlling stake in Sika AG—a deal management of the Swiss company quelled after lengthy court proceedings.
GCP CEO Simon Bates calls Saint-Gobain “the ideal strategic partner to support our growth. Thanks to its global platform, significant resources as well as commercial and innovation expertise, Saint-Gobain is perfectly positioned to ensure the success of GCP’s operations and people over the long term.”
“The acquisition of GCP is an excellent and significant step for Saint-Gobain to further reinforce its worldwide leadership in construction chemicals and strengthen its geographic presence in North America and emerging markets, both objectives being at the core of our ‘Grow & Impact’ strategic plan. We are very happy to welcome into Saint-Gobain the GCP teams, with whom we share the same industrial and commercial culture,” affirms Saint-Gobain CEO Benoit Bazin.
“Given GCP’s leadership in its sector with well-recognized brands, expertise, know-how and businesses that are highly complementary with Chryso and CertainTeed, we are convinced that this great combination will create a very strong platform, with improved reach, value added solutions and services delivered to our customers,” he adds. “Leveraging our scale and innovation capabilities, with GCP’s attractive geographic footprint, this transaction will result in enhanced profitable growth and value creation for our shareholders and will provide attractive development opportunities for both teams around the world.”
The takeover will sunset GCP’s six-year run as a standalone company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The former Grace Construction Products business, along with Darex Packaging Technologies, was spun off from W.R. Grace & Co. in 2016. A 2017 sale of Darex to Germany’s Henkel positioned GCP to focus primarily on cement, concrete and construction.