Trulite CEO Discusses the Acquisition of AGC’s U.S. Commercial Fabrication Operations

On Dec. 29, 2014, officials from Trulite Glass & Aluminum Solutions LLC announced the company acquired the U.S. commercial fabrication assets of AGC Glass Company North America Inc. AGC’s residential assets were not part of the acquisition and will be retained by AGC. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Glass Magazine has confirmed that 10 AGC fabrication locations were affected by the deal: Alvarado, Texas; Carbondale, Pa.; Fall River, Mass.; Hebron, Ohio; Houston; Knoxville, Tenn.; Lithia Springs, Ga.; Richmond, Va.; Salt Lake City; and San Antonio, Texas. AGC will continue to operate its residential glass fabrication plants in Boardman, Ohio, and Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

The transaction marked Trulite’s fifth acquisition since April 2011 and second acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2014, making it one of the fastest growing companies in the industry.

Glass Magazine interviewed Trulite CEO Paul Schmitz about the deal and about future plans for the company.

Tell me about the decision to acquire all of AGC’s U.S. commercial fabrication operations. What are the goals of the acquisition for Trulite?

Foremost, this acquisition allowed us access to numerous valuable customer relationships. It did this in conjunction with broadening our geographic footprint while giving us immediate access to relatively new fabrication equipment.

Does Trulite have plans to close or consolidate any AGC locations?

Going forward we plan to operate San Antonio, Houston, Salt Lake City and Knoxville.

How will this affect former AGC customers?

Many AGC customers will have their requirements serviced from a current Trulite site. Others will continue to be serviced from their current AGC site. In both cases, our intent is to always provide best-in-class product quality, on-time delivery and customer service.

How will this affect AGC fabrication employees?

That is as yet unknown as AGC has many well-trained and experienced employees that we are looking to place in current Trulite sites where possible.

This deal marks Trulite’s fifth acquisition since 2011. What has been driving Trulite’s acquisition strategies over the last three years? How has the company identified potential business acquisitions?

We continue to see opportunities for consolidation in this market. As new opportunities arise we will appraise them and assess how they can add value to our customers and Trulite as a whole. We continue to be interested in growth through acquisition.

What are Trulite’s future acquisition plans? And, can you provide a picture of the long-term plans for the company? Since the company is owned by a private equity company, there is some speculation that Trulite could be sold in the next few years.

Trulite continues to be interested in growth, and future acquisitions is one path to that objective. Our interest lies in being our customers' best choice for high quality fabricated glass products and systems regardless of who owns Trulite at any point in time.