After several months of rumors, Oldcastle Glass finalized its acquisition of The Vistawall Group June 29. Oldcastle Glass purchased the manufacturer of architectural aluminum glazing systems for $190 million from its Australian parent BlueScope Steel.

The acquisition makes Oldcastle Glass the largest manufacturer of architectural glass and aluminum glazing systems in North America with more than $500 million in annual sales, according to a July 2 company release. “The Vistawall acquisition provides scale and a national footprint with sales in all 50 states, and is the cornerstone of our growth strategy to be the market leader in engineered products used to close the building envelope,” said Ted Hathaway, CEO of Oldcastle Glass, in the release. 

BlueScope acquired The Vistawall Group in April 2004 as part of its $206 million buyout of Butler Manufacturing Co. BlueScope will continue to own and operate the Butler Buildings and Vistawall China business, according its June 28 acquisition announcement.

“The time is right for BlueScope Steel to divest Vistawall North America in order to realize the outstanding value created in this non-steel business,” said Kirby Adams, BlueScope managing director and CEO, in a June 28 release. “The sale to Oldcastle will help set a new course for Vistawall.”

The acquisition will help Vistawall improve efficiencies among locations and continue to grow, said Tom Harris, Vistawall president, in the Oldcastle Glass release. “Oldcastle Glass has the financial resources to invest in our growth,” he said.

Oldcastle Glass’ purchase of Vistawall marks the company’s largest deal in a string of recent acquisitions.

Acquisitions in the last two years include: Antamex International Inc., a glazing system manufacturer and installer out of Toronto in August 2006; fabricator Florida Laminated & Tempered Glass Co. of Miami in June 2006; Texas Wall Systems Inc., a Dallas-based curtain wall systems engineer in January 2006; and Fulton Windows, a Toronto-based window and curtain wall manufacturer in July 2005.

In the five years before that, the company also bought April Industries Inc. of Montreal; Floral Glass Group of Hauppauge, N.Y.; Hoffer’s Inc. of Wausau, Wis.; Laminated Glass Corp. of Telford, Pa.; and Southwest Aluminum Systems Inc. of Chandler, Ariz. Read the company’s news releases on these acquisitions here.

The businesses Fulton Windows, Southwest Aluminum, Texas Wall Systems, as well as National Retail Systems of Austin, Texas, will be integrated with Vistawall into the Oldcastle Glass Engineered Products division, according to the release. Tom Harris will lead the division.

Susan Trimble, director of corporate communications for Oldcastle Glass, said in a July 2 e-mail there will not be any location or personnel changes for Vistawall.

—By Katy Devlin, e-Newsletter editor, e-glass weekly

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