![Glaverbel Building 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Glaverbel_Building_03.jpg)
AGC Glass Europe is an international glass manufacturing group based in
Louvain-la-Neuve
Louvain-la-Neuve (, French for ''New Leuven''; wa, Li Noû Lovén) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town was ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and the European branch of the
AGC Inc. Group.
AGC Glass Europe currently employs some 14,500 people.
["AGC Glass Europe: Profile"](_blank)
, www.agc-glass.eu. Retrieved 7 February 2016. Its industrial facilities comprise 18 float glass lines, 10 automotive glass processing centres and more than 100 distribution-processing units in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, stretching from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
History
''Glaverbel'' was founded in 1961 in Belgium out of the merger of ''Glaver S.A.'' (Glaces et Verres) and ''Univerbel S.A.'' (Union des Verreries Mécaniques Belges). In 1972, the French ''BSN'' (Boussois-Souchon-Neuvesel) group (now
Danone
Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of t ...
) gained control over Glaverbel.
Glaverbel started with a restructuring program and diversified into
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
processing in 1974.
In 1981, BSN shed its flat glass activities and the
''Asahi Glass Co. Ltd.'' of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
acquired Glaverbel. In 1987, Glaverbel was registered at the
Brussels stock exchange
The Brussels Stock Exchange (french: Bourse de Bruxelles, nl, Beurs van Brussel), abbreviated to BSE, was founded in Brussels, Belgium, by decree of Napoleon in 1801. In 2002, the BSE merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon and Paris stock exchang ...
and in 1991, expanded into
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
with the acquisition of ''Glavunion'' in
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. Glaverbel was the first western industrial company to invest in Czechoslovakia, and in 1997, the first western glass producer to invest in Russia. In 1998, Glaverbel acquired the European glass activities of ''
PPG Glass Industries'', mainly located in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
In 2002, AGC acquired the whole of Glaverbel, and was deregistered from the Brussels stock exchange. In 2007, Glaverbel was renamed as ''AGC Flat Glass Europe'' and in 2010, ''AGC Glass Europe''.
["AGC Glass Europe: History"](_blank)
, www.agc-glass.eu. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
Jean-François Heris is AGC Glass Europe President and CEO to date. AGC Glass Europe employs around 14,500 people.
Splintex was being a brand of automotive glasses which was being owned by Glaverbel Group until 2007.
In 2015, AGC acquired
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
automotive glass manufacturer
NordGlass
NordGlass, is a Polish manufacturer of windshields for the repair of passenger cars and trucks, work machinery, railways, ships and military (armored glass). Headquartered in Koszalin, it has 2 plants: Koszalin and Słupsk, employs over 1,000 emp ...
.
Price-fixing scandal
AGC Flat Glass Europe (Glaverbel) is one of the four glass manufacturers who were fined a total of 486.9 million euros ($717.5 million; £348.2m) by the European Commission on 28 November 2007, for illegally co-coordinating price rises. The European Commission said the firm had raised or stabilised prices in 2004 and 2005, through illicit contacts with the other principal glass manufacturers:
Guardian Industries
Guardian Industries is a privately held industrial manufacturer of glass, automotive and building products based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Auburn Hills, Michigan.
The company manufactures float glass, fabricated glass products, fiberglass insulat ...
of the US,
Pilkington
Pilkington is a Japanese-owned glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the UK it includes several legal entities and is a subsidiary of Japanese company NSG Group.
Prior to its acquisition by NSG i ...
(the UK unit of
Nippon Sheet Glass
is a Japanese glass manufacturing company. In 2006 it acquired Pilkington of the United Kingdom. This makes NSG/Pilkington one of the four largest glass companies in the world alongside another Japanese company Asahi Glass, Saint-Gobain, and Gua ...
), and
Saint-Gobain
Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of ...
of France; all four of which together controlled 80% of Europe's market for flat glass.
Neelie Kroes
Neelie Kroes (; born 19 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson who served as European Commissioner from 22 November 2004 to 1 November 2014.
Kroes studied Economics at t ...
, the EU's competition commissioner, said that the EU would "not tolerate companies cheating consumers and business customers by fixing prices and depriving them of the benefits of the single market".
"Kroes shatters glass cartel"
, NewEurope (1 December 2007). Retrieved 8 February 2016.
See also
* Luc Willame
*Arthur Ulens
Arthur Ulens (born 1946 in Leuven, Belgium) is a Belgium, Belgian businessman and former head of Glaverbel, AGC Flat Glass which groups the worldwide flat glass activities of the Asahi Glass Company (AGC).
Education
He graduated in chemistry and e ...
*Glass production
Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass.
Glass container ...
References
External links
*{{official, https://www.agc-glass.eu
Manufacturing companies established in 1961
Glassmaking companies of Belgium
Companies based in Walloon Brabant
Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve
Price fixing convictions
Belgian companies established in 1961