W&D Weekly - August 29, 2007 | Vol 2, Num 34
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Home Depot Moves on Reduced Supply Sale

A significant cut in the sale price sealed the deal for Home Depot's sale of its professional supply business...

Tightening credit markets and sluggish housing figures sent The Home Depot back to the drawing board on the proposed sale of its professional supply business, but a significant cut in the sale price sealed the deal yesterday. A consortium of private equity firms—including the Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Clayton Dubilier & Rice, as well as the banks throwing their financial weight behind the deal, Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch—will acquire Home Depot Supply for $8.5 billion, about $1.8 billion less than an original agreement.

The professional supply arm of the business was built up under former chief executive officer Robert Nardelli as a way to drum up additional revenue outside of Home Depot’s retail chains. The company began looking for alternatives for the supply unit once current CEO Frank Blake took office earlier this year.

As part of the amended agreement, the involved parties will all contribute funds to reduce the amount of debt involved in the transaction. Home Depot will purchase a 12.5 percent equity interest in the whole business for $325 million and will guarantee a $1 billion senior secured loan of Home Depot Supply.

“Despite the softness in the financing and residential construction markets, the terms of the HD Supply sale deliver shareholder value today and in the future as we will share in HD Supply’s upside potential,” Blake announced in a statement. “We are now focused on our retail business.”

The renegotiated deal caught the attention of financial analysts since it includes a significant amount of debt in the transfer. Bankers and other investors have been interested to see if new limits on credit might affect other big buyouts that are pending in other markets.

HD Supply is a wholesale distribution unit focused on serving the needs of professionals in the infrastructure, construction, maintenance, and repair and remodel markets. It has nearly 1,000 locations in North America and employs more than 26,000 people, according to the company.


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Royal Closing Winnipeg Extrusion Plant

Georgia Gulf Corp. says it will close Royal Group's Winnipeg, Manitoba profile extrusion facility later this year...

Georgia Gulf Corp. says it will close Royal Group's Winnipeg, Manitoba window and door profile extrusion facility later this year, with the extrusion operations currently in this facility to be transferred to other Royal Group profile extrusion plants. Atlanta-based Georgia Gulf, which acquired Royal Group in October 2006, says the move is the latest in a series of actions designed to improve manufacturing efficiency and reduced fixed cost.

"Customers purchasing window and door profiles from our Winnipeg facility will be better served by our other facilities, as these plants house the latest in extrusion technology," says Bill Doherty, Georgia Gulf's VP of custom products. Royal Group has profile extrusion facilities located strategically throughout North America to serve its expanding window manufacturer customer base. Royal Group's window and door profile extrusion plants are located in Toronto, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Reno, Nev. It also operates a window profile extrusion plant in Bristol, Tenn., which officials note was just expanded to meet the needs of a growing window manufacturer customer base in the Southeast.

The company also reports that its RoyalGuard impact-resistant system has been granted Florida Building Code-HVHZ approval, which allows it to be used in Dade and Broward Counties. The system is targeted at windstorm-prone areas of the U.S.


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Update Your 2008 Buying Guide Info

Image of 2008 Window and Door Buying Guide coverVisit us online 24/7 to submit or update your company information now, for the 2008 Window & Door Buying Guide, the industry’s leading annual directory featuring more than 1,500 manufacturers and suppliers...

Image of 2008 Window and Door Buying Guide coverWe’re beginning work on the 2008 Window & Door Buying Guide, the industry’s leading annual directory featuring more than 1,500 manufacturers and suppliers. To make sure we have the latest, most accurate information available, we need to hear from you.

The Buying Guide provides comprehensive lists of suppliers in more than 400 component, equipment, accessory and service categories. It also contains sections of manufacturers of windows, doors, skylights and other finished products, providing detailed information about product lines and markets served.

Window and door manufacturers use the Buying Guide as a desk reference throughout the year to find suppliers through our extensive listings divided into specialized categories. Whether they’re looking for a new vendor or specialty product not available from current suppliers, dealers and distributors also use the Buying Guide to find manufacturers of windows, doors and other finished products.

You can update your company’s listings or add your company by going to www.ebuyingguide.net, Window & Door’s Online Buying Guide*. Our Web-based system enables you to check contact and product line information and make any necessary changes and additions, any time of the day, any day of the week.

CURRENT LISTEES
Click here and use your Company ID and Password to review the current contact information, categories and product information. You can also click “Update Your Listing” at the bottom of the home page any time.

Please note: All current listees will receive an email with their company’s ID and password information. You can also contact Pete Frank, Window & Door’s managing editor, for assistance, at pfrank@glass.org.

NEW LISTEES
If you’re company wasn’t listed in the 2007 Buying Guide, click here to easily add your information for the 2008 edition. Or at anytime from the home page, simply click “List Your Company”. Although we provide a number of enhanced listing options for advertisers, the basic listing is free.

ENHANCED LISTINGS
And, if you want to really stand out from the crowd, click here to contact your advertising sales representative to learn about special enhanced listing options available. Advertisers in the 2008 Window & Door Buying Guide receive a free Deluxe Product Listing, a color logo included along with their company contact information and more. These options, as well as online listing enhancements, can be purchased separately. Click here to download a PDF with more information.

Don’t miss the opportunity to go online now and make sure we get the most up-to-date information for the 2008 print edition of the Window & Door Buying Guide. Go to www.ebuyingguide.net today.

*Window & Door reserves the right to edit all information provided.

Wood-Plastic Composites Conference Set
for October

Principia Partners is hosting its fourth annual Wood-Plastic and Natural Composites conference October 8-9...

Principia Partners, a market research and consulting firm, is hosting its fourth annual Wood-Plastic and Natural Composites conference October 8-9, 2007 at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, Md.

The first day will focus on the decking and railing industry, including an examination of how green building trends may influence the marketing and sales of WPCs, as well as vinyl and traditional wood-based products. The second day will cover raw material supply and demand trends, the development of the global WPC industry and trends in the distribution and demand for vinyl and WPC fence products.

Keynote speakers for the two-day event are Doug Mancosh, president/founder of Fiber Composites and Ralph Bruno, president of AZEK Building Products. Both individuals will deliver strategic perspectives about the growth of the WPC industry and the role of cellular vinyl in the low-maintenance exterior building products segment. The line-up of speakers also includes suppliers of extrusion equipment and other technologies for the production of WPCs.

In addition, the two-day event will have more than three dozen companies including raw materials, equipment, and processing leaders exhibiting their latest product and service offerings aimed at the wood-plastic and natural fiber composites industry.

More information about the conference is available at www.principiaconsulting.com.

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July New-Home Sales Rebound Slightly From Weak June
from the National Association of Home Builders
Sales of new single-family homes were up 2.8 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 870,000 units as new-home sales rebounded from weak sales figures in June, the U.S. Commerce Department reported today. The July sales pace was 10.2 percent below a year earlier...read more

U.S. Government Researchers Validate High Energy Capability of Nanoparticles, Key to Octillion's NanoPower Windows
from Yahoo! Finance
Silicon nanoparticles show high-energy effect capable of converting more of the sun's energy to electricity in Department of Energy study; Power performance of solar cells boosted by 60 to 70 percent in separate study of nanoparticles used in Octillion's NanoPower Windows...read more

Chinese Banks Disclose Subprime Loan Exposure
from TheStar.com
After appearing immune to the turmoil engulfing the mortgage market in the United States, China suffered its first serious setback yesterday from exposure to subprime loans...read more