Silica Glass, Inc.
Silica Glass is a U.S.-based manufacturer of glass fiber products. Silica is faced with declining intra-firm sales, and is attempting to secure growth in sales through its primary developing market -- Europe. A small firm in former East Germany is a potential competitor, particularly in the European market, but currently possesses inferior technology and market savvy. Silica believes that if it acquires the German firm it will be able to establish a foothold in the European market and simultaneously acquire a long-term potential competitor.
The case can be used for a variety of sessions on any of the following : strategies for market entry; issues related to competitive access in the Single European Market; issues of German unification and the privatization process (and its problems) in former communist states; international corporate strategy and acquisition negotiations.
