Saint-Gobain acquires Rencol Tolerance Rings

Saint-Gobain has over 200,000 employees around the world, of which over 20,000 are in the UK and Ireland. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, the company will be integrated into the Bearing Business Unit and change its name accordingly to Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Rencol Ltd.

Jim Smith, Managing Director, will report to Marc Aerts, General Manager Bearings. Mr Smith comments: "This announcement represents an exciting opportunity for this company, as Saint-Gobain has established extensive global sales channels and the product families complement each other and will enable both companies to grow faster."

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Rencol is a world-class manufacturer and supplier of bespoke fasteners, with a global client base including major blue-chip companies in the automotive, white goods and electric motor industries. The company has approximately 120 employees and, in 2007, achieved a record turnover of around 11.3million.

Rencol tolerance rings solve many of the engineering problems associated with temperature, vibration and torque control between shafts and housings, and share a number of synergies with products and services currently available from Saint-Gobain's Bearings business unit. Both companies share many common automotive customers, and are already involved in some of the same ongoing projects.