Following the announcement of the Nippon Sheet Glass £1.8BN takeover of Pilkington, both firms have stressed that the group will retain its "brand and name" as one of the world's leading glassmakers and the group's European HQ will stay at Prescott Rd, St Helens. The companies say the deal is about combining glassmakers with strengths in the Japanese sector to make a global force in the industry. Assurances have been given to the 1,780-strong workforce at St Helens that there will be no job cuts locally, nor will there be any closure of any of the 7 remaining sites, including the Lathom research facility. A Pilkington spokesman suggested that NSG would invest to bring superior technology to the town's glass plants. Pilkington will, nevertheless, become a subsidiary of NSG, a company about half its size.
