“Acquiring the Chinese decorative paints business from Sherwin-Williams will help us to deliver our growth ambitions in tier three to tier five geographical areas in China. This intended acquisition is a strong strategic fit and our current business is best placed to unlock the full potential, thereby offering new opportunities for employees and customers,” said AkzoNobel CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume.

The acquisition includes the widely known Chinese decorative paints brand Huarun, which Mark Kwok, AkzoNobel’s director decorative paints North Asia, said will strongly complement the company’s existing premium-focused Dulux product and give its customers access to a more diverse and stronger offering.

The deal follows a string of recent acquisitions by AkzoNobel in the past few years, including Titan Paints in Spain and Portugal, New Nautical Coatings in the US, Grupo Orbis in Latin America and, most recently, Lankwitzer Lackfabrik in Germany.

Next month, AkzoNobel is due to complete the new warehousing facility it is building in China. The €10.3 million hub in Songjiang, Shanghai will provide customized storage and operation modes for different categories of decorative paint.

The company announced in June last year that it had invested in a new production line for water-based texture paints at Songjiang, China, boosting capacity for Dulux products in applications such as interior decoration, architecture and leisure.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist