disambiguation . saint gobain s.a. saint gobain headquarters in courbevoie near paris trading name euronext sgo type soci t anonyme industry building materials founded 1665 ; 351 years ago 1665 headquarters la d fense courbevoie france area served worldwide key people pierre andr de chalendar chairman and ceo products construction materials production and retail glass ceramics plastics abrasives packaging gypsum plasterboards revenue 42.025 billion 2013 1 operating income 2.764 billion 2013 1 profit 0.595 billion 2013 1 total assets 45.726 billion 2013 1 total equity 17.870 billion 2013 1 number of employees 185 364 end 2013 1 website www.saint gobain.com saint gobain s.a. is a french multinational corporation founded in 1665 in paris and headquartered on the outskirts of paris at la d fense and in courbevoie . originally a mirror manufacturer it now also produces a variety of construction and high performance materials . the company is a component of the euro stoxx 50 stock market index . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 1665 1789 manufacture royale 1.2 1789 1910 industrial revolution 1.3 1910 1950 post industrial revolution 1.4 1950 1970 pont mousson merger 1.5 1971 1986 nationalisation 1.6 1986 present expansion 2 company structure 2.1 head office 2.2 committees 2.2.1 executive committee 2.2.2 general management committee 2.3 financial data 2.4 business sectors 2.4.1 building distribution 2.4.2 construction products 2.4.3 innovative materials 2.4.4 packaging 2.4.5 external venturing 3 acquisitions and sales 3.1 saint gobain gyproc middle east 3.2 saint gobain glass india 4 see also 5 references 6 sources 7 further reading 8 external links history edit 1665 1789 manufacture royale edit since the middle of the 17th century luxury products such as silk textiles lace and mirrors were in high demand . in the 1660s mirrors had become very popular among the upper classes of society italian cabinets ballrooms ch teaux and ornate side tables and pier tables were decorated with this expensive and luxurious product . at the time however the french were not known for mirror technology ; instead the republic of venice was known as the world leader in glass manufacturing controlling a technical and commercial monopoly of the glass and mirror business . citation needed french minister of finance jean baptiste colbert wanted france to become completely self sufficient in meeting domestic demand for luxury products thereby strengthening the national economy . 3 colbert established by letters patent the public enterprise manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs french pronunciation manyfakty wajal d las d mi wa royal mirror glass factory in october 1665 . 4 the company was created for a period of twenty years and would be financed in part by the state . the beneficiary and first director was the french financier nicolas du noyer receiver of taxes of orl ans 5 who was granted a monopoly of making glass and mirror glass for a period of twenty years . the company had the informal name compagnie du noyer . an early saint gobain emblem to compete with the italian mirror industry colbert commissioned several venetian glassworkers he had enticed to paris to work for the company . the first unblemished mirrors were produced in 1666 . 6 soon the mirrors created in the faubourg saint antoine under the french company began to rival those of venice . the french company was capable of producing mirrors that were 40 to 45 inches long 1.0 to 1.1 m which at the time was considered impressive . competition between france and the venetians became so fierce that venice considered it a crime for any glass artisan to leave and practice their trade elsewhere especially in foreign territory . nicolas du noyer complained in writing that the jealous venetians were unwilling to impart the secrets of glassmaking to the french workers and that the company was hard pressed to pay its expenses . the distractions of paris proved distracting to the workers and supplies of firewood to stoke the furnaces were dearer in the capital than elsewhere . in 1667 the glass making was transferred to a small glass furnace already working at tourlaville near cherbourg in normandy and the premises in faubourg saint antoine were devoted to glass grinding and polishing the crude product . though the compagnie du noyer was reduced at times to importing venetian glass and finishing it in france by september 1672 the royal french manufacturer was on a sufficiently sound footing for the importation of glass to be forbidden to any of louis subjects under any conditions . 7 in 1678 the company produced the glass for the hall of mirrors at the palace of versailles . in 1683 the company s financial arrangement with the state was renewed for another two decades . however in 1688 the rival compagnie th vart was created also financed in part by the state . compagnie th vart used a new pouring process that allowed it to make plate glass mirrors measuring at least 60 by 40 inches wide 1.5 by 1.0 m much bigger than the 40 inches 1.0 m which the compagnie du noyer could create . the two companies were in competition for seven years until 1695 when the economy slowed down and their technical and commercial rivalry became counterproductive . under an order from the french government the two companies were forced to merge creating the compagnie plastier . in 1702 compagnie plastier declared bankruptcy . a group of franco swiss protestant bankers rescued the collapsing company changing the name to compagnie dagincourt . at the same time the company was provided royal patents which allowed it to maintain a legal monopoly in the glass manufacturing industry up until the french revolution 1789 despite fierce sometimes violent protests from free enterprise partisans . 1789 1910 industrial revolution edit in 1789 as a consequence of the french revolution the state financial and competitive privileges accorded to compagnie dagincourt were abolished . the company now had to depend on the participation and capital of private investors although it continued to remain partly under the control of the french state . in the 1820s saint gobain continued to function as it had under the ancien r gime manufacturing high quality mirrors and glass for the luxury market . however in 1824 a new glass manufacturer was established in commentry france and in 1837 several belgian glass manufacturers were also founded . while saint gobain continued to dominate the luxury high quality mirror and glass markets its newly created competitors focused their attention on making medium and low quality products . the manufacture of products of such quality made mirrors and glass affordable for the masses . in response the company extended its product line to include lower quality glass and mirrors . in 1830 just as louis philippe became king of the newly restored french monarchy saint gobain was transformed into a public limited company and became independent from the state for the first time . while mirrors remained their primary business saint gobain began to diversify their product line to include glass panes for skylights roofs and room dividers thick mirrors semi thick glass for windows laminated mirrors and glass and finally embossed mirrors and window panes . some of the more famous buildings that saint gobain contributed to during that period were the crystal palace in london le jardin des plantes les grand et petit palais and les halles in paris and the milan railway station . saint gobain merged with another french glass and mirror manufacturer saint quirin in the mid 19th century . after the merger the company was able to gain control of 25 % of european glass and mirror production before it had only controlled 10 15 % . in response to growing international competition the company began to open up new manufacturing facilities in countries without any domestic manufacturers . where saint gobain cast the glass blanks of some of the largest optical reflecting telescopes of the early 20th century including the ground breaking 60 inch 1.5 m hale telescope online in 1908 and 100 inch 2.5 m hooker telescope online 1917 at mount wilson observatory usa and the 72 inch 1.8 m plaskett telescope online in 1918 at dominion astrophysical observatory canada . 1910 1950 post industrial revolution edit saint gobain experienced significant success in the early 20th century . in 1918 the company expanded its manufacturing to bottles jars tableware and domestic glassware . in 1920 saint gobain extended its businesses to fiberglass manufacture . fiberglass was being used to create insulation industrial textiles and building reinforcements . in 1937 the company founded isover a subsidiary fiberglass insulation manufacturer . during this period the company developed three new glassmaking techniques and processes ; first a dipping technique used to coat automobile windows which prevented glass from shattering in the event of an accident . as a result of that technique 10 % of saint gobain s 1920 sales came from the automobile industry and 28 % in 1930 . second a few years later another technique was developed that allowed glass to be shaped and bent . clarification needed finally a process was developed to coat glass with aluminum allowing it to be used as a conductor and allowed the company to create products such as radiavers a glass heater . 1950 1970 pont mousson merger edit between 1950 and 1969 saint gobain s sales rose at a rate of 10 % per year . its work force grew from 35 000 in 1950 to 100 000 in 1969 . by the end of the 1960s saint gobain had more than 150 subsidiaries under its control . glass and fiberglass sales benefited from the booming construction industry and the rise in mass consumption after the second world war . saint gobain s yearly glass production went from 3.5 million square metres 38 million square feet in 1950 to 45 million square metres 480 million square feet in 1969 . in 1950 fiberglass only represented 4 % of the company s turnover but by 1969 this had grown to 20 % . domestic sales in france accounted for only a fifth of the company s revenue . spain germany italy switzerland and belgium were also important markets . in 1968 boussois souchon neuvesel bsn a french industrial group made a hostile takeover bid for saint gobain . the company looked for a white knight to help fend off the bid . multinational corporation suez suggested that saint gobain and pont mousson another french industrial group should merge in order to maintain independence from bsn . after the merger saint gobain pont mousson later known simply by the name saint gobain produced pipes in addition to glass and fiberglass . 1971 1986 nationalisation edit the next fifteen years were a time of change and reorganization for the newly merged companies . in the 1970s western economies were suffering a sharp downturn . saint gobain s financial performance was adversely affected by the economic and petrol crisis . in 1981 and 1982 ten of france s top performing companies were nationalized by the socialist fifth republic of france . by february 1982 saint gobain was officially controlled by the state . however the company did not last long as a government owned corporation ; it was re privatized in 1987 . 1986 present expansion edit when saint gobain once again became a private enterprise control of the company quickly changed hands . jean louis beffa an engineer and graduate of the cole polytechnique became the ceo . beffa invested heavily in research and development and pushed strongly for the company to produce engineered materials such as abrasives and ceramics . under beffa the company continued to expand internationally setting up foreign factories and acquiring many of its foreign competitors . in 1996 the company bought poliet the french building and construction distribution group and its subsidiaries such as point p. and lapeyre . this expanded saint gobain s product line into construction materials and their