Companies within a leading UAE-based glass group are to benefit from an agreement allowing them to acquire 20 per cent of the production of a sister company.

The agreement requires Emirates Float Glass (EFG) to supply that volume, amounting to 1.2 million sq m of glass annually, to Emirates Glass LLC (EGL), Lumiglasss Industries (LI) and Saudi American Glass (SAG) with EGL, one of the leading processors of architectural glass in the Middle East, taking the lion’s share. The deal is worth Dh20 million ($5.4 million) annually.
All the companies are subsidiaries of Glass LLC, wholly owned by Dubai Investments.
Raw glass sourced from EFG will be coated and tempered by EGL and the sister companies according to the requirements of their architects for various construction projects.
EGL general manager Ziad Yazbeck said the supply agreement would help maintain his company’s “longstanding commitment to excellence’ and its tradition of using only the finest materials and the most advanced technologies throughout the production process.
EFG vice president Ghassan Mashaal said EFG products were the outcome of superb craftsmanship and cutting-edge equipment.
Market implications
Faisal Rashid, general manager at Glass LLC, emphasised the market implications of the business deal, saying, “This collaboration points to a very active local market for glass and reflects a sustained growth in demand for the material due to more projects being injected into the construction pipeline.  This partnership with our subsidiaries further cements our position as a substantial player in the local market.”
A new coater will be installed at EGL’s processing plant by September which should take the company’s total production capacity to 3.7 million sq m of flat glass.
Founded in 1998, the company offers the extensive Emicool range of sputter-coated solar control and thermal-insulated glass products.
The core operation of EGL is the application of ultra-thin metallic coatings by means of cathodic sputtering on to float glass substrates. These coatings, which comprise various combinations of silver, tin, zinc, chromium, titanium and stainless steel, greatly enhance the colour and reflectivity of the glass. They are known to provide impressive levels of solar control and thermal insulation (when used in double glazing) to minimise heat gain into all building types while also reducing the consumption of energy for summer cooling.