Brandtree

Knauf: brands it owns and its ownership tree

Knauf is a privately held company headquartered in Iphofen, Germany that owns 3 consumer brands, and has 1 recorded transaction.[1]

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.

Company facts

Legal name
Knauf Group (also Knauf Gips KG)
Type
privately held company · see all privately held company owners
Headquarters
🇩🇪 Iphofen, Germany
Founded
1932
Website
www.knauf.com
Last verified
· 4 sources

Knauf in numbers

Everything Knauf owns

Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.

Everything Knauf owns Tree of 3 brands under Knauf. Knauf Knauf Insulation Sheetrock USG

Full-screen interactive tree →

Brand portfolio by category

Full portfolio, 3 brands, with sources →

Acquisitions by Knauf

Acquisition closed

Knauf acquires USG and Sheetrock

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.

Value
$7bn
Buyer
Knauf
Seller
Regulatory
None recorded

Latest news about Knauf

No tagged news items yet. Deals, regulatory actions and recalls are added from SEC filings, regulators and trade press; only titles and links are stored.

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Frequently asked questions

What brands does Knauf own?

Knauf owns 3 consumer brands tracked here, including USG, Sheetrock and Knauf Insulation.

Is Knauf a German company?

Yes. Knauf is headquartered in Iphofen, Germany and was founded in 1932.

Who owns Knauf?

Knauf is privately held. 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.

What was Knauf's most recent acquisition?

The most recent completed acquisition recorded here is USG and Sheetrock on 24 April 2019.

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.

  1. [1] Knauf Group — History: A Journey through Time — Knauf Group, Official document; retrieved 23 September 2026.
  2. [2] USG Corp Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1 - Knauf and USG Agree to Transaction at $44 Per Share in Cash — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 8-K, published 11 June 2018; retrieved 23 September 2026.
  3. [3] USG Corp Form 8-K reporting completion of the Knauf merger — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 8-K, published 24 April 2019; retrieved 23 September 2026.
  4. [4] Knauf Completes Acquisition of USG Corporation — USG Corporation, Official press release, published 24 April 2019; retrieved 23 September 2026.

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