India: Saint-Gobain, which is celebrating its 350th anniversary, has its sights set firmly on the future and, in particular, in India. It entered India in 1996 and now has 20 manufacturing plants and about 4900 employees there.

Saint-Gobain's two ambitions for its businesses in India are to shape the future of and to become the reference for sustainable habitat and to more than double its business in India and to exceed sales of US$1.61bn by 2019.

"India has been an important market and investment destination for Saint-Gobain and, going forward, will be even more so," said Anand Mahajan, Saint-Gobain's general delegate for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

US: For the second consecutive day on 17 February 2015, fire-fighters responded to Georgia-Pacific Gypsum's plant in Newington, North Hampshire, for a partial roof collapse at a large storage area used to house gypsum for making wallboard, said assistant fire chief Jeffrey LeDuc. Fire-fighters were called to the plant just before 7am, when a structural engineer reported that the roof had collapsed under the heavy weight of deep snow, LeDuc said. Fortunately, the building had been evacuated on 16 February 2015 when a worker heard some kind of sound from the roof. LeDuc said that after the initial evacuation, utilities had been shut off to avoid further possible damage to the building.

Switzerland: Resistance to Saint-Gobain's offer to buy Swiss-based Sika has strengthened as a new group of minority shareholders said that they oppose the deal. Walter Gruebler, a former chairman of Sika's board, as well as other former board members, have said that they are backing the company's management in opposing the Saint-Gobain takeover attempt, Sika said in a statement. The stake held by those former board members represents 1% of Sika's equity.

"This transaction endangers the culture of a great Swiss family company that has been able to evolve over the decades and destroys value for Sika shareholders," said the minority shareholders. "Resistance, represented by the board and the management, is justified."

Sika's management and its board are fiercely fighting an agreement sealed between the Burkard family, which controls Sika and Saint-Gobain in December 2014. The family accepted an offer of Euro2.57bn for its holding company Schenker-Winkler Holding AG, one of Europe's biggest building-materials groups by revenue. The holding company currently holds 52.4% of the voting rights in Sika, but only 16.1% of the shares.

The sale would give Saint-Gobain control without having to make an offer for the remaining 83.9% owned by shareholders. The deal is unfair for minority shareholders, the management has said. Sika has said that shareholders representing more than 35% of its total capital have given their assurance that they support the board of directors in its efforts to fend off the takeover.

US: Gypsum Management and Supply Inc (GMS), a US distributor of wallboard, has signed an agreement to acquire Serrano Drywall Supply in Iowa City, Iowa. Serrano Drywall Supply will become the 11th location under Tamarack Materials, a GMS company with locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. The deal marks the strategic entrance of GMS into the Iowa marketplace.

"We are excited about the expansion into Iowa," said Jerry Speights, vice president of the Central Division of GMS. "The combined strength of the Tamarack and Serrano brands will come together in Iowa City, presenting an exciting opportunity to service our customers."

"We are pleased to bring Serrano Drywall Supply into the GMS family," said Mike Callahan, president of GMS. "Their commitment to delivering exceptional quality of service, personnel, products and safety fits with the GMS culture. This partnership provides GMS the opportunity to expand our service footprint in the state of Iowa."