Adhesives maker H.B. Fuller Co. will lay off dozens of workers and take $3.7 million in after-tax charges spread across the next few quarters, the company said Tuesday in a filing with regulators.
The job cuts will come from "across all operating segments including corporate headquarters" which is in Vadnais Heights, the company said. Fewer than 100 people will be cut globally, it said.
About $3.1 million of the severance costs will fall in the fourth quarter, the firm said, with the rest occurring by December 2015.
The company is eliminating duplicative functions following several acquisitions, spokeswoman Kimberlee Sinclair said.
In September, H.B. Fuller acquired ProSpec Construction Products. In June, it bought a 95 percent stake in China-based Tonsan Adhesive Inc. for $230 million. And in 2011, it bought the Swiss industrial adhesives firm Forbo Group for $394 million.
"This is a consolidation of our manufacturing," Sinclair said. "It [affects] adhesives manufactured for the packaging and hygiene and durable assembly markets, meaning electronics, which is new for us, and automobile. But it also includes smaller things like woodworking and window [adhesives]."
H.B. Fuller, which makes the adhesives used in books, paper towels, packaging and hundreds of products, has 4,000 employees worldwide, including about 500 in Minnesota.
Officials said the pending charges will not affect the adjusted earnings guidance it has previously given for 2014.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
