(Adds detail on purchase from CEO, stock price)
MONTERREY, July 21 (Reuters) - Mexican glass manufacturer Vitro VITROA.MX said on Thursday it had agreed to purchase the flat glass unit of U.S. company PPG PPG.N for around $750 million, giving it a foothold in U.S. and Canadian markets.
Under the deal, Monterrey-based Vitro will acquire four plants with a total of five furnaces in the United States, a flat glass investigation unit and four glass processing centers in Canada, the company said in a statement.
Vitro, which emerged from a lengthy debt restructuring process in 2013 and last year sold its glass container business to Owens-Illinois Inc (NYSE:OI) for more than $2 billion, said the deal would make it a world leader in the flat glass business.
"This investment will strengthen our glass business for construction and enable us to take part in the U.S. and Canadian markets, as well as the high-tech solar control coatings sector, where we don't have a major presence," said Vitro Chief Executive Officer Adrian Sada Cueva in the statement.
The flat glass unit was purchased with cash and a credit of about $500 million, said Sada Cueva in a brief phone interview.
The deal is subject to normal regulatory approvals, the Mexican firm said.
Vitro's stock on Thursday closed up 1.87 percent at 59.90 pesos ($3.22) per share. ($1 = 18.5727 Mexican pesos)