Pilkington buys Cluj-based Gimarom

British company Pilkington Automotive, a part of the Japanese group Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG), has recently acquired Cluj-based Gimarom, which distributes and installs glass for the auto industry and posted business worth over 9 million euros in 2006. The takeover is part of a transaction by which Pilkington bought the Hungarian group Gima, which was the majority shareholder of the Romanian company. When contacted by ZF, Gimarom representatives confirmed the transaction, but did not reveal the sum. Gimarom Invest posted a net profit worth around 1.5 million euros in 2006, according to data from the Ministry of Finance. At the time of the takeover, the store chain numbered 21 stores, and over 150 employees. The head of Gima’s operations in Romania and Hungary will be Peter Takacs Jr, the son of the company’s founder. British giant Pilkington has been testing the waters for several years on the local market. In 2003, it announced a 100 million-dollar investment strategy for a float glass plant (used mainly in the automotive industry and in the civil engineering market), with Brasov earmarked as one of the possible locations at the time. The British later dropped the investment, although the project was almost complete.