USG is owned by Knauf (Germany), which acquired the brand on 24 April 2019, as part of a $7 billion deal that also included Sheetrock.[1][2][3][4] USG was founded in 1902 in the United States and was independent until 2019.
USG (United States Gypsum Company) was founded in 1902 when roughly thirty independent gypsum companies merged, and grew into one of North America's largest gypsum-board and ceiling-systems manufacturers. On 24 April 2019, pursuant to a merger agreement, USG became an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of the Knauf Group, according to the Form 8-K USG filed with the SEC that day; USG's own site now describes it as giving customers "access to the world's largest gypsum company."
Knauf is a privately held company headquartered in Iphofen, Germany, founded in 1932. Brandtree records 3 brands under its control.
The Knauf Group is a family-owned German building-materials manufacturer founded in 1932 when brothers and mining engineers Alfons and Karl Knauf secured gypsum mining rights in Schengen on the Upper Moselle and built their first plant there the following year. It moved its headquarters to Iphofen in Bavaria in 1949, expanded from gypsum into insulation, construction chemicals and ceiling systems over the following decades, and today reports more than 43,500 employees, 320 production sites and operations in more than 90 countries across four business areas: Gypsum Americas, Gypsum EMEA, Gypsum APAC and Insulation.
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,570 brands that began in the United States.
501 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, USG among them.
Knauf, the privately held German building-materials group, bought all of the outstanding shares of USG Corporation for cash, ending USG's life as a publicly traded, US-listed company. The deal was announced on 11 June 2018 in a transaction the companies valued at approximately USD 7.0 billion, structured as USD 43.50 per share in cash at closing plus a USD 0.50 per share special dividend conditional on shareholder approval, for USD 44.00 per share in total; USG shareholders approved the merger on 26 September 2018 and the special dividend was paid on 2 October 2018. A Knauf subsidiary, World Cup Acquisition Corporation, merged into USG on 24 April 2019, with USG continuing as the surviving corporation and becoming an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Knauf. No company id for USG's former parent (it was independently listed, not owned by another company in this dataset) exists to record as a seller, so seller is left empty; what changed hands was control of USG and its Sheetrock wallboard brand, which moved from public US ownership to a German family company.
The parent company of USG is Knauf, a privately held company headquartered in Germany.
Is USG American or German?
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USG originated in the United States in 1902, but it is owned today by Knauf, which is headquartered in Germany. So USG is an American-origin brand under German ownership.
When did Knauf buy USG?
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Knauf completed its acquisition of USG on 24 April 2019, after announcing the deal on 11 June 2018. The deal, which also included Sheetrock, was valued at $7 billion.
Who owned USG before Knauf?
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USG was an independent company from its founding in 1902 until Knauf acquired it in 2019.
Is USG still owned by Knauf?
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Yes. As of 23 September 2026, USG is still owned by Knauf. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (4) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
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