Saint-Gobain rides U.S. recovery

PARIS — Saint-Gobain is taking advantage of the U.S. housing recovery to invest in growth in the country. The building materials supplier, Europe’s largest, is investing $3 billion to reopen dormant factories and hire workers, Bloomberg reports. “We have a very solid presence in Western Europe, but we want to grow in the U.S., where I think we are not enough represented,” said CEO Pierre-André de Chalendar. Saint-Gobain, which has been mired at home in controversy over its bid to acquire a stake in Swiss chemicals firm Sika, saw 12% of its sales come from North American markets last year.