Owens Corning initiates review of strategic alternatives for glass reinforcements business

Owens Corning (USA), a global building and construction materials leader, announced that the company has decided to review strategic alternatives for its global glass reinforcements (GR) business. The decision to explore alternatives for the GR business is consistent with the company’s strategy to focus on building and construction materials.

The business, which operates within the company’s Composites segment, manufactures, fabricates, and sells glass fiber reinforcements in a variety of product forms. The GR business generates annual revenues of approximately $1.3 billion and has operations in 11 countries, with 18 manufacturing facilities. The business supplies a wide variety of glass fiber products for applications in wind energy, infrastructure, industrial, transportation, and consumer markets.

Owens Corning’s vertically integrated glass nonwovens business that supports the Roofing segment and other building products customers, along with the recently acquired WearDeck business, remain core activities of the company and are out of the scope of this evaluation.

Brian Chambers, Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Owens Corning, said, “Our Board and management team regularly review strategic opportunities with a goal to maximize shareholder value. Through this disciplined approach to capital allocation, we have taken actions over the past several years to optimize our performance and have concluded it is the right time to explore options for our glass reinforcements business as we continue to focus on strengthening our position in building and construction materials.”

“We’re proud of our 85-year pioneering legacy in glass reinforcements products and technology,” said Chambers. “Our talented glass reinforcements team has consistently produced differentiated, high-quality products based on our material science expertise, deep technical knowledge, and broad application experience. We have built market-leading positions in key regions and applications, including renewable energy, which creates the opportunity to operate as a core business within another company or as a stand-alone entity focused more on industrial end markets. Throughout our review, we are committed to maintaining our strong customer relationships with the same high standards and close collaboration.”

The company has retained Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as financial advisor to assist in the review of strategic alternatives.

A range of options are under consideration, including a potential sale, spinoff, or other strategic option. There can be no assurance that the strategic review will result in any transaction or other outcome. The company has not set a timetable for completion of the review and does not intend to disclose developments or provide updates on the progress or status of the review unless and until it deems further disclosure is appropriate or required.