PPG Takes Germany’s Hemmelrath

Less than a month after agreeing to acquire US coatings company Whitford Worldwide, PPG has now pledged to buy German automotive coatings manufacturer Hemmelrath. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Michael McGarry, PPG’s chairman and CEO, said the acquisition is another step forward in its strategic growth plan.

Headquartered in Klingenberg, Hemmelrath is a family-owned company making coatings for automotive OEMs at plants in Klingenberg and Erlenbach, Germany as well as in Jilin, China; Duncan, South Carolina, USA and Indaiatuba, Brazil.

Hemmelrath said it supplies to more than 50 automotive manufacturing plants worldwide, and more than seven million cars around the world are coated with its products each year. The company has 480 employees and an annual turnover of more than €107 million.

“The fit between Hemmelrath and PPG is complementary,” said Rebecca Liebert, PPG’s senior vice president, automotive coatings. “The acquisition will enhance PPG’s automotive coatings offering and add formulating and manufacturing solutions.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2019, subject to the usual closing conditions.