Central Glass Finalizes Carlex Acquisitions

Central Glass Co., Ltd., a parent company of Carlex Glass, announced that it has finalized pending acquisitions to expand Carlex’s business operations.Central Glass has officially acquired all of the outstanding shares of two subsidiaries of Guardian Industries Corp.: Guardian Automotive Products, Inc. (GAPI), formerly headquartered in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and Guardian Automotive-E S.A. (GA ESA), formerly headquartered in Luxembourg.This transaction includes three automotive glass manufacturing sites and the GAPI headquarters.The glass plants are located in Auburn, Indiana; Ligonier, Indiana; and Grevenmacher, Luxembourg.

All of the newly acquired companies will operate as Carlex, effective immediately, and the worldwide headquarters of Carlex will remain in Nashville. The former Guardian Automotive Products, Inc. entity will be renamed Carlex Glass of Indiana, Inc., and the former Guardian Automotive-E S.A. entity will be renamed Carlex Glass Luxembourg, S.A.

“We are excited about the synergies between the newly formed Carlex businesses that will expand the global footprint of Central Glass and its subsidiary, Carlex, in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The customer crossover between the companies was minimal, so we’re realizing a maximum impact of new audiences,” said Jim Shepherd, president of Carlex.

Central Glass and Carlex will continue to provide original equipment glass and replacement glass for a variety of OEM automakers and the aftermarket, including windshields, door glass, back windows and sunroofs. Its customer base will grow by adding many new customers in North America and Europe to an already well established customer base in the US and Japan.

In addition to increasing the number of customers that Central Glass and Carlex will serve, these acquisitions will add to the company’s portfolio of products, which will now include infrared reflective coatings on automotive glass, heated windshields and heads-up display windshields.

“We’re proud of our history in Tennessee and our headquarters operations will be staffing up as necessary in the near future," added Shepherd. "We are excited to welcome the newest Carlex employees into our family.”