10 June 1999: PPG Industries Inc., which last year pulled out of a bidding war for all of London-based Courtaulds Plc, recently announced a US$ 512.5 million deal to buy a prized piece of the company …
10 June 1999: PPG Industries Inc., which last year pulled out of a bidding war for all of London-based Courtaulds Plc, recently announced a US$ 512.5 million deal to buy a prized piece of the company from new owner Akzo Nobel N.V. According to a recent report, the Pittsburgh-based paint and glassmaker plans to acquire PRC-DeSoto International Inc. of Glendale, California, by July. The company employs about 1,200 people and has annual sales of US$ 240 million, producing coatings and sealants for airplanes and sealants for insulating glass used in homes and buildings. Akzo Nobel, of the Netherlands, was required by the European Commission to sell off the aerospace coatings unit for competitive reasons. The company already owns a similar venture. The deal appears to be particularly profitable for PPG, the report said. It said that the company wanted some of the Courtaulds“ operations so much that last spring it considered challenging Akzo Nobel“s US$ 3 billion deal to buy the British company. Instead, PPG accepted a US$ 285 million arrangement to acquire Courtaulds“ packaging coatings and US architectural coatings businesses. Company spokesman John Ruch said that this acquisition gives PPG almost everything it wanted from the very start. PRC-DeSoto, which has operations in California, New Jersey, France and England, is expected to help turn PPG into a leading coatings supplier for the commercial, general and military aircraft business. “This acquisition furthers our strategy to invest in core businesses with excellent growth potential and consistent earnings,” said chief executive Raymond W. LeBoeuf.