LONDON - British building products manufacturer Caradon plc, which in North America makes Peachtree doors and Caradon Better-Bilt vinyl windows, plans to expand in Europe by buying at least 40 percent of Weru AG, a German vinyl window and door manufacturer. London-based Caradon announced the deal April 10.
Weru ``will significantly enhance our position in the international market for doors and windows,'' said Peter Jan-sen, Caradon chief executive.
Caradon's international Doors and Windows Group, which includes two United Kingdom-based companies and seven businesses in North America, reported $570 million in combined 1994 sales.
Weru employs 1,800 at four plants. Weru made more than 1 million doors and windows in 1994, making $22.6 million in aftertax profit.
If plans are realized to acquire 43.1 percent of Weru, based in Rudersberg, Germany, it will cost Caradon $174.5 million, according to the company.
Caradon bought Peachtree Doors Inc. in 1994. Peachtree of Gainesville, Ga., has plants in Gainesville and Norcross, Ga., that make wood and aluminum windows and steel and fiber-reinforced plastic doors, insulated with polyurethane foam.
Caradon's other North American plastics operations include Better-Bilt, with vinyl window fabrication plants in Smyrna, Tenn., and Prescott Valley, Ariz.; and Caradon Windows and Doors in Calgary, Alberta, which makes wood and vinyl windows.
