Acquisitive PPG Industries buys paints, coatings group SigmaKalon from Bain Capital

Our Corporate Bureau
05 October 2007

Pittsburgh, USA, based PPG Industries Inc is buying SigmaKalon Group, the Uithoorn, Netherlands-based coatings producer, from private equity major Bain Capital for €2.2 billion ($3.1 billion), including debt.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will help PPG expand its operations in Europe and Asia. In Europe, where SigmaKalon is the second-largest coatings company, PPG''s sales will more than double with the acquisition.

SigmaKalon is the result of a 1999 merger of British decorative paints producer Kalon Group, a subsidiary of Total SA of France, and Sigma Coatings, a subsidiary of Belgian oil producer Petrofina. The company, which had revenues of about $2.76 billion in 2006, was acquired by Bain in 2003.

SigmaKalon''s brands include Sigma Coatings, Johnstone''s, Leyland, Primalex and Seigneurie. The company, which has a significant presence in Eastern Europe, recently acquired an architectural coatings firm in China.

Earlier this year SigmaKalon acquired Burgdorf, Switzerland, based Schoch Holding AG and its subsidiaries, which specialise in coatings for the metal finishing, bicycles, powder and plastics industries. It also formed SigmaKalon IVY ( Shanghai) Paints Co.Ltd., a decorative paints joint venture in China, in which the Dutch group owns 85 per cent and the Shanghai IVY 15 per cent.

PPG, which employs more than 34,000 people in the paints, coatings, chemicals and other businesses in more than 25 countries, made a profit of $711 million on revenue of $11.04 billion in 2006.