Saint-Gobain-Pont-à-Mousson, Compagnie de

▪ French company

      leading French manufacturer and distributor of construction materials, packaging, and containers.

      Saint-Gobain traces its origins to 1665, when the Manufacture Royale de Glace (“Royal Factory of Mirror Glass”) was founded under Louis XIV. The company became the royal glass manufacturer in 1692. As it grew the company contributed to the development of the French chemical fertilizer and alkali industries, and it developed various chemical processes involving soda and chlorine.

      In 1970 Saint-Gobain merged with Pont-à-Mousson, a company founded in 1856 to produce pig iron and iron castings. By the time of the merger, Pont-à-Mousson had become a leader in metallurgy and the building trade.

      Later in the 1970s Saint-Gobain divested its interests in chemical and energy companies, focusing instead on glass, fibreglass, and insulation. The company entered the field of business information systems by acquiring a significant stake in Olivetti & Co., SpA, an Italian producer of office machines, but those technology holdings were sold in 1982 and 1983, when the company was nationalized by the French government. Steps toward reprivatization began in 1986.

      More recent acquisitions focused on the construction materials industry. Saint-Gobain bought American insulation manufacturer CertainTeed in 1988 and purchased controlling interests in American glass manufacturers Ball and Foster Forbes in 1995. The company also produces pipes, tubes, castings, valves, machine tools, plastic-processing machinery, and packaging materials.

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