The Pittsburgh-based company announced on Thursday that the layoffs would primarily affect positions in the United States and Europe.
PPG will lay off 1,800 employees as paints and coatings maker aims to cut costs | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/42IGsPz2dl
— WTAE-TV Pittsburgh (@WTAE) October 17, 2024
Mark Silvey, PPG’s corporate communications director, mentioned that there are 800 employees at the corporate headquarters located in Downtown Pittsburgh, with an additional 425 working at the Cranberry facility.
PPG also announced it has reached an agreement to sell its entire architectural coatings division in the U.S. and Canada. This division includes brands like Liquid Nails, Glidden, and Olympic, which generated $2 billion in net sales for PPG last year. The buyer is the private equity firm American Industrial Partners, and the transaction, valued at $550 million, is expected to be finalized by the end of this year or early 2025.
In August, PPG also agreed to sell its silicas products division to Poland’s QEMETICA S.A. for approximately $310 million and is still pending.
Details regarding the timing of the layoffs have not been disclosed, but PPG indicated that these reductions are part of a broader multi-year initiative aimed at lowering structural costs globally. This initiative will also encompass “various facility closures,” though specifics were not provided.
Tim Knavish, PPG’s chairman and CEO, stated in a prepared statement that while such decisions are challenging, they are essential for adjusting the company’s fixed cost structure and resizing the organization. He pointed to two recent business divestitures as part of this strategy.
The layoffs and divestitures come on the heels of a disappointing earnings report for PPG. The company announced on Wednesday that its net income for the third quarter was $468 million, or $2.13 per share, on revenues totaling $4.58 billion, which fell short of analysts’ projections.
