Saint-Gobain borrows 1,5 billion euros to better spread its debt

The loan is divided into three tranches of 500 million euros, with different maturities (3, 6 and 10 years), with for the first time an indexation of the ten-year tranche on the group's objectives in terms of reducing its direct greenhouse gas emissions and its non-recycled production waste.

Its net debt increased slightly to 8,3 billion euros at the end of June 2022 (36% of equity), against 7,6 billion euros at the end of June 2021, according to a press release published on the announcement of its results last week.

Saint-Gobain announced on Monday the finalization of the acquisition, for 928 million US dollars, of Kaycan, a North American family business producing and distributing building materials and exterior cladding, number one in cladding.

He had previously announced the acquisition of the French group Chryso and the integration of the American GCP Applied Technologies, with the aim of becoming the world's number two in construction chemicals to "decarbonize" this sector.

Last week, Saint-Gobain reported a sharp increase in net profit (+32,8% to 1,72 billion euros) in the first half thanks to good activity in renovation and construction and despite the weight of inflation. The group wanted to reassure on its objectives and the impact of rising prices, particularly on raw materials.