Saint Gobain Or Regulatory News (COD)

6 Sep 2006 08:05

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain06 September 2006 press release September 4, 2006 Saint-Gobain's Packaging Sector expands in Chile Saint-Gobain's Packaging Sector has just gained control of BO Glass ContainersSA, which has begun construction of a wine bottle plant in Rosario, located in awinegrowing region south of Santiago (Chile). Saint-Gobain acquired 51 percentof the company through a capital increase, with the historic shareholders led byJuan Obach and Felix Bacigalupo retaining the remaining 49 percent. BO GlassContainers SA will now change its name to Saint-Gobain Envases SA. This plant will have one furnace and two production lines specialized in themanufacturing of wine bottles in clear, green and dead-leaf glass. With this acquisition, Saint-Gobain will become the second largest wine bottlemanufacturer in Chile. It will also speed up its growth in one of the world'smost dynamic wine industries. This new position will also enable Saint-Gobain,the leading European and the world's second largest packaging glassmanufacturer, to work apace with the Chilean wine industry and its remarkablegrowth, especially on the export market. This operation dovetails with the Packaging Sector's growth strategy in emergingcountries. It will boost the Sector's presence in Latin America where it alreadyhas five manufacturing facilities in Brazil, and another plant with two furnacesin Mendoza (Argentina). Saint-Gobain is already active in Chile, in association with Juan Obach andFelix Bacigalupo, in Lirquen, the country's only manufacturer of flat glass. Italso has a minority interest in Volcan, a leading company in the plaster,plasterboard and insulation products markets. With more than 20,000 employees globally (71 manufacturing plants in Europe,North and South America, and in China), Saint-Gobain's Packaging Sector is theleader in all its business areas: • The manufacture of bottles and jars for the food and beverage industries, • The manufacture of bottles for the fragrance, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, • Packaging added value using the most sophisticated decoration techniques. In 2005, the Sector reported sales of 4 billion euros, that is, 10 percent ofSaint-Gobain's consolidated sales. Investor Relations Department Mrs Florence TRIOU-TEIXEIRA Tel.: +33 1 47 62 45 19 Mr Alexandre ETUY Tel.: +33 1 47 62 37 15 Fax.: +33 1 47 62 50 62 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange