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MERGERS

Ply Gem and Atrium Windows & Doors

to Combine Into One Company

oth Ply Gem and Atrium

Windows & Doors have been

acquired simultaneously by

private-equity ﬁ rm Clayton, Dubilier

& Rice (CD&R), which will combine

them to create a huge exterior build-

ing products company with total rev-

enue of more than $2.4 billion.

Under the agreement, announced

in late January, CD&R will pay $21.64

per share to all holders of Ply Gem

common stock and transition the

company from publicly traded to pri-

vately held. That’s about 20 percent

higher than Ply Gem’s closing stock

price on January 30, 2018.

CD&R’s agreement to acquire Ply

Gem is not subject to the acquisition

of Atrium, the terms of which weren’t

revealed because Atrium is a private

company. But once the transactions

are completed in the second quar-

ter of 2018, CD&R will own about 70

percent of the new company. Atrium

shareholders, which include funds

managed by Golden Gate Capital, will

control approximately 30 percent.

The new Ply Gem will continue to

be headquartered in Cary, N.C. Gary

E. Robinette, currently chair and CEO

of Ply Gem, will continue in those

roles. John Krenicki, a CD&R oper-

ating partner and former vice chair

of General Electric, will become lead

director of the board.

“The Ply Gem board’s unanimous

approval of this transaction is based on

the conviction that it delivers superior

value to shareholders,” said Robinette

in a statement. “The strategic and

operational excellence of CD&R and

Golden Gate will help strengthen the

long-term growth of the company.

This support, along with the expand-

ed business and product portfolio

of the new combined company, will

establish a stronger window platform

with manufacturing scale and channel

distribution advantages for custom-

ers. Together with the talented Atrium

team, we look forward to providing

exceptional value and service to all of

our customers and rewarding career

opportunities for our associates.”

Atrium generated revenue of

approximately $350 million in 2017.

“We are excited to combine with

Ply Gem and look forward to the syn-

ergies that will be achieved through

an enhanced product breadth and

stronger North American platform,

which will allow us to drive topline

growth and customer value,” said Ron

Cauchi, Atrium CEO, in a statement.

The newly expanded Ply Gem will also

have a large footprint in North America.

Ply Gem has 8,500 employees at more

than 65 locations in North America.

Atrium Windows is headquartered

in Welcome, N.C., about 100 miles west

of Ply Gem’s HQ near Raleigh. The

company also has operations in Dallas

and London, Ontario. It employs about

3,000 people. In early February, the

company announced that it will be hir-

ing about 150 workers each at its North

Carolina and Texas facilities, accord-

ing to a report in the Triad Business

Journal. However, Atrium vice presi-

dent of human resources Lori Imhoff

told the publication that the merger

and the company’s plans to add new

employees are unrelated. Imhoff cited

strong growth as the reason for the

expanded workforce.

The Bigger Picture

Freedonia Group analyst Carolyn

Zulandt thinks the merger will instant-

ly produce an industry giant.

“This new combined company will

beneﬁ t from improved production

and distribution efﬁ ciencies, as well

as advantages like shared technolog-

ical expertise in a very competitive

industry,” she said. “Together, Ply

Gem and Atrium should capture a

share of the U.S. window market that

comes closer to that of industry giant

Andersen than any other supplier. The

greater economies of scale and scope

of the larger combined company

should also make it a stronger com-

petitor in the other building product

markets served, which include doors,

fencing, rooﬁ ng and siding.”

What’s

News

continued on page 14

A Mega-Merger

Ply Gem

• Headquarters: Cary, N.C.

• Workforce: 8,500

• Locations: 65 across North America

• 2017 Revenues: More than $2 billion

Atrium

• Headquarters: Welcome, N.C.

• Workforce: 3,000

• Locations: 3 across North America

• 2017 Revenues: Approximately $350 million

CONTINUED

What’s

News

Door & Window Market www.dwmmag.com

The Insulating Glass Manufacturers

Alliance (IGMA) held its 2018 Winter

Conference in Tucson, Ariz., in early

February, and certiﬁcation was a

major focus.

Safety Glazing Certiﬁcation

Council (SGCC): John Kent, presi-

dent of Administrative Management

Systems (AMS), updated the council

on the development of an online

training tool to outline how to run

safety tests correctly. The SGCC plans

to launch the training tool before its

next meeting in October. The council

will also consider integrating quality

system requirements with existent

testing and sampling requirements.

Insulating Glass Certiﬁcation

Council (IGCC): IGCC will look at

which internal components should be

tested according to the e2190 series

of test standards. IGCC also approved a

voluntary ﬁngerprint process for seal-

ants. Companies can submit a sample

of the sealant to get a chemical ﬁn-

gerprint. Companies will then be able

to compare the sealant from one year

to another or pre- and post-test. IGCC

considered formalizing the corrective

action process after a request for root

cause analysis upon test sample fail-

ures. The proposal was not approved.

It’s unclear if the process will be picked

up by the council later. The IGCC also

is focused on product equivalency to

allow switching between products in

the same generic category. Current

codes deﬁne the three spacer catego-

ries as single-material single-function

spacers, multi-material single-function

spacers and multi-material multi-func-

tion spacers.

Insulating Glass Manufacturers

Association of Canada (IGMAC):

Its certiﬁcation program received a

request for the gas content testing

of triple-glazed units to be averages

across all cavities rather than having

the unit fail because one cavity does

not meet the requirements.

Sealants: A new task group was

created to deﬁne test methods for

two-part sealants. Another task group

was created to work through some of

the challenges of deﬁning tolerances

of different spacer systems. Spacers

and sealant suppliers were asked to

determine how many spacer system

categories currently exist.

Design considerations for com-

plex conﬁgurations: Certiﬁcation

committee chair Roland Rossman of

Garibaldi Glass called for a task group

to establish guidelines for design

considerations for complex insulating

glass units (IGU), which includes over-

sized glass.

Vacuum insulating glazing: David

Cooper of Guardian Industries report-

ed that the vacuum insulating glazing

(VIG) task group has sent out ballots

for the ﬁrst phase of a VIG dura-

bility standard. Under the proposed

standards, manufacturers would sub-

mit test samples to be measured for

R-factor within the ﬁrst phase. The

second phase would focus on thermal

stability.

Thermal stress: IGMA technical

director Bill Lingnell reported that

the committee is analyzing dynamic

thermal stress. The committee’s goal is

to predict the probability of breakage

due to thermal stress, such as major

temperature difference exerted upon

the internal and external parts of the

glass simultaneously.

Provisional certiﬁcation: John

Kent, president of Administrative

Management Systems, explained the

Insulating Glass Certiﬁcation Council’s

(IGCC) provisional certiﬁcation. The

group created a rapid assessment

chamber to measure the real-time

failure of units. During IGCC’s testing,

argon levels fell after relative humidi-

ty (RH) spiked. The moment of failure

for these units was referred to as a

“burp.”

Window PCR: IGMA members

debated whether to participate in a

multi-organizational revision of the

product category rule (PCR) on win-

dows to maintain the environmen-

tal product declaration (EPD). The

current PCR expires in September

2020. Members voted yes to continue

the conversation with the American

Architectural Manufacturers

Association (AAMA) and other orga-

nizations about revising the PCR. y

EVENTS

IGMA Winter Conference Focuses on Certiﬁcation

Dustin Anderson of HGTV was one of IGMA’s featured speakers.