PPG Industries plans to lay off about 1,800 employees amid efforts to cut costs, with the paints and coatings maker also inking a deal to sell a sizeable chunk of its architectural business.

PPG Industries will lay off 1,800 employees in the U.S. and Europe and close plants as part of a cost-reduction program, the paints and coatings maker said on Thursday.

PPG (NYSE:PPG) on Thursday said it agreed to sell its architectural-coatings business in the United States and Canada for $550 million to private-equity firm American Industrial Partners, and announced a cost-cutting program that affects about 1,