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 ...

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 ...

, and the European branch of the

AGC Inc. , formerly Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.'(旭硝子株式会社), is a Japanese global glass manufacturing company, headquartered in Tokyo. It is the largest glass company in the world and one of the core Mitsubishi companies. The company is listed on ...

Group. AGC Glass Europe currently employs some 14,500 people."AGC Glass Europe: Profile"
, 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") , ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

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 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 the company's products are ...

) 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 (quenchin ...

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 n ...

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 exchange ...

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 a ...

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 ...

. 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"
, 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 automotive glass manufacturer NordGlass.

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. The company manufactures float glass, fabricated glass products, fiberglass insulation and building materia ...

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 ...

(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 ...

), 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 ...

, 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.

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

History

Price-fixing scandal

See also

References

External links