RNS Number:6007R
Compagnie de Saint-Gobain
21 February 2007



February 21st, 2007


press release


          Owens Corning and Saint-Gobain Create "OCV Reinforcements",

          The New Leader in the Reinforcements and Composites Business

Toledo, Ohio, USA and Paris, France, Feb. 21, 2007


Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) and Saint-Gobain representatives jointly announced
today that they have signed a joint-venture agreement to merge Owens Corning's
Reinforcements Business and Saint-Gobain's Reinforcements and Composites
Business (a part of the entity known as Vetrotex) into a new company that will
be named "OCV Reinforcements" and that will serve customers with improved
technology, an expanded product range and a strengthened presence in both
developed and emerging markets.


On July 27, 2006, Owens Corning and Saint-Gobain jointly announced that they
were in discussions to merge their respective reinforcements and composites
businesses, thereby creating a global company in reinforcements and composite
fabrics products, with worldwide revenues of approximately $1.8 billion (Euro1.5
billion) and 10,000 employees.


The agreement signed on February 20, 2007 contemplates that the joint-venture
will be owned 60 percent by Owens Corning and 40 percent by Saint-Gobain.  After
a minimum of four years, Saint-Gobain will have the option to sell its 40
percent stake to Owens Corning, and Owens Corning will have the option to buy
Saint-Gobain's stake in the joint-venture.


The Owens Corning Saint-Gobain joint-venture will present significant
opportunities for synergies. These are expected to come primarily from scale
benefits in purchasing and procurement; operational and technological plant
improvements; improved distribution costs; reduced administrative costs; and
asset management optimization.


The transaction, which has been approved by the Board of Directors of both
parent companies, is expected to close in mid-2007 and is subject to customary
closing conditions, and regulatory and antitrust approvals.


                                    * * *

About Owens Corning

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) is a world leader in building materials systems and
composite solutions. A Fortune 500 company for more than 50 years, Owens Corning
people redefine what is possible each day to deliver high-quality products and
services ranging from insulation, roofing, siding and manufactured stone veneer,
to glass composite materials used in transportation, electronics,
telecommunications and other high-performance applications. Since the company's
founding in 1938, Owens Corning has been a market-leading innovator of glass
fiber technology with sales of $6.3 billion in 2005 and 20,000 employees in 26
countries. Additional information is available at www.owenscorning.com.


About Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain Group specializes in the design, production and distribution of
functional materials for the construction, industrial and consumer markets. The
Group is organized into five business sectors: Flat Glass, High-Performance
Materials, Construction Products, Building Materials Distribution and Packaging.


Established in 54 countries, Saint-Gobain is the market leader in each of its
core businesses. In 2006, it achieved close to Euro41.6 billion estimated sales
with around 200,000 employees. Additional information is available at
www.saint-gobain.com.



                        Saint-Gobain Investor Relations

Mrs. Florence TRIOU-TEIXEIRA       Tel.: +33 1 47 62 45 19

Mr. Alexandre ETUY                 Tel.: +33 1 47 62 37 15

                                   Fax: +33 1 47 62 50 62


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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