August 7, 2007

Saint-Gobain has acquired the Maxit group, a manufacturer of industrial mortars, from HeidelbergCement. Maxit reported sales of & euro; 1,237 million in 2006 (US$1.7 billion).&nbsp ;

With this transaction, Saint-Gobain builds its presence in Construction Markets, doubling its size in industrial mortars (which, in 2006, represented & euro; 1 billion (US$1.37B) in products sold under the Weber trademark) and in particular strengthens its ETICS (External Thermal Insulation Composite System) solutions.

The companies complement each other geographically -Weber is strong in and Southern Europe, and well established inEastern Europe . Maxit group is a player in and inScandinavia . In addition, the two groups …

BlueLinx Holdings Inc., Atlanta, GA, distributor of building products in North America, reported profit in the second quarter ended June 30, 2007, of $5.4 million, compared with profit of $9.6 million in the prior-year period.
&nbsp ;
Sales fell 21.5% to $1.08 billion in the second quarter. The decline reflects a 25.1% drop in structural product sales and a 17% sales decline in specialty products. About two-thirds of the sales decline in structural products resulted from unit volume, which fell 17.1% from a year ago. The specialty products sales decrease was largely due to unit volume, which declined 15.3%.
&nbsp ;
Overall second-quarter unit volume for the company’s estimated weighted end-use markets fell 12.8% from the prior year, driven by a 21.8% decline in housing …