As part of its ongoing portfolio optimisation, Saint-Gobain Building Distribution has disposed of two non-core businesses that lacked synergies with the rest of its operations: Meyer Decorative Surfaces (MDS) in the United States and Ashworth in the United Kingdom.
MDS is a regional US one-stop distributor of a broad range of surfacing and complementary products for the kitchen and bathroom sectors (wood products, laminates and related products). It had 15 branch locations and 200 employees in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The MDS business assets were sold on 31 December 2014 to Rugby Architectural Building Products. It generated sales of USD 66M in 2014.
The Ashworth business distributes pipes, valves and fittings to the mechanical services and process industries, trading from six sites with 135 employees in the United Kingdom. In 2014, it generated sales of GBP 32M. The deal was signed on 5 February 2015 with GIL Investments, with a completion date on 28 February 2015.
