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Grey Mountain Partners Acquires the Assets of North American Specialty Glass
Grey Mountain Partners, in connection with its affiliate company Consolidated Glass Holdings Inc. (CGH), announced the acquisition of North American Specialty Glass (NASG) assets out of Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Trumbauersville, Pa.-based NASG produces safety and security glass for transportation, architectural, military, as well as specialty end-use applications. NASG also focuses on the development of glass and polycarbonate laminate technology.

“We think the long-term effects of this acquisition will make us stronger than before,” says Carole Kagiyama CGH director of marketing in an exclusive interview with USGlass. “It’s a positive add. We think they are going to fit into our portfolio and complement what we currently offer.”

Kagiyama continues on to say, “We’re running material now. We're not 100-percent yet, but I think we'll be up and running 100-percent very soon. We have almost all of our employees back. We think with our solid financial backing we'll be even stronger going forward.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Grey Mountain and CGH,” says Ted Jenny, president of NASG. “This acquisition and injection of additional capital saved nearly 100 jobs and will allow us to rapidly return to production. We greatly appreciate the continued support of all of our customers through this process. The NASG team is motivated and ready to provide our customers with an even higher level of service and quality products.”

“We welcome NASG’s talented management team, and we look forward to immediately reopening the business and working with customers to satisfy their needs,” says Tom Ryan, CEO of CGH. “With a commitment to customer service and quality products, NASG has a reputation for providing consistently superior laminated glazing systems and components. At CGH, our goal is to bring long-term sustainability to NASG by running a first-class operation and leveraging our other glass fabrication businesses to expand the scope of our offering.”

Flat Glass Prices Fall 0.4 Percent
Flat glass prices fell 0.4 percent from July to August, according to the monthly Producer Price Index Report issued by the U.S. Labor Department.

Previously, flat glass prices began to steadily increase after the 0.1 flat line of May to June. Prices continued to grow from June to July at a 0.5 percent rate, according to the report.

While flat glass prices decreased, the cost of components and materials for construction increased at a rate of 0.2 percent from July to August. In comparison, the previous month's cost of construction was -0.1 percent from June to July.

The import price for glass and glassware rose 0.7 percent in August, according to the U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes. The August rate is the first monthly increase since March. The prior four months held a decline of 4.4 percent. The August export prices also increased at 0.9 percent. This rate preceded a 0.4 percent rise for the month of July, the report says.

GANA Meetings Focus on Standards and Energy
Members of the Glass Association of North America (GANA) were busy working on manuals, standards updates, glass informational bulletins and more during their Fall Conference, which took place September 18-22 at the Hilton Chicago. The Tempering Division meetings, in fact, had some special guests: members of the International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA). There is a joint task group of GANA and IWCA members working together to update the GIB on proper procedures for cleaning architectural glass products. During the Construction Subcommittee meeting Urmilla Sowell, GANA technical director, provided an update and said the next step will be to send the document to the joint group for review and if all parties approve, it will be balloted at both GANA and IWCA and jointly published.

The tempering division also discussed the safety, design, installation and maintenance of glass railings and guards. Valerie Block with DuPont updated the group on the activities of the Canadian Standards Association, which has formed a technical committee called Building Guards, as a result of the falling glass incidences in Toronto. According to Block, the purpose of the committee is to develop a comprehensive standard that will become the basis for glass railing systems. Block added that there is “active involvement from all provinces” and there is great interest in the design, maintenance and installation. So it’s not just about the glass.”

Members of the Energy Division technical committee covered a number of areas such as the activities of the solar products and applications subcommittee. While the group is working on developing a GIB, there are other areas of potential activity in which members are involved. These include educational “101” webinars as well as involvement with ASTM and other groups and how GANA can work with them in areas such as standards development. (For more on the division, see page 6.)

Court Approves Sale of Benada’s Equipment to Tubelite

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida has approved a motion by Benada Aluminum Products LLC to sell certain portions of its extrusion equipment and related assets to Tubelite Inc. for a purchase price of $2.9 million. The motion was made as part of Benada's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Tubelite emerged as the successful bidder after Benada issued a notification of intent to sell the equipment in August, and 12 potential purchasers expressed interest. After several rounds of bidding, Tubelite prevailed “as the successful bidder to acquire the property,” coming in just above RL Best’s final bid of $2.8 million.

Creditor Wells Fargo will receive 80 percent of the sale proceeds, while the remaining 20 percent will be used by Benada “to continue to fund its operations.”

The sale includes the company's RL Best 2750/3000-Ton Hydraulic Press; an RL Best handling system; a Granco Clark log heating furnace; a Granco Clark hot log cutoff saw; a log saw to press billet transveyor; a die oven; a Belco Reversing End Flow age oven with triple-lane powered conveyors; any and all manuals related to operation, use and maintenance of the extrusion line assets; and any and all unexpired manufacturer’s warranties with respect to the extrusion line assets. According to documentation filed in the case, the machinery was part of Florida Extruders International's 3000 Ton Press Equipment, which Benada acquired in June 2011.

USG
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