The German wood coating companies Oskar Nolte and Klumpp Coatings are about to be taken over by the American Sherwin-Williams Company
The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) hat eine Vereinbarung zum Erwerb der in Deutschland ansässigen Specialized Industrial Coatings Holding (SIC Holding), bestehend aus der Oskar Nolte GmbH und der Klumpp Coatings GmbH, unterzeichnet. Die Hamburger familiengeführte Industrieholding Peter Möhrle Holding und GP Capital veräußern somit ihre gemeinsame Beteiligung an Oskar Nolte und Klumpp Coatings an das weltweit führende Farben- und Lackunternehmen mit einem globalen Umsatz von mehr als 19 Milliarden US-Dollar. Nach Abschluss der Transaktion werden Oskar Nolte und Klumpp Coatings Teil der Business Unit Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings Gruppe im operativen Segment Industrial Wood.
Livingstone’s Industry Sector team acted as exclusive M&A advisor to all selling shareholders throughout the international process. The parties have agreed not to disclose the economic terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in early 2023, subject to pending regulatory approvals and clearances.
Oskar Nolte is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-performance wood coating systems for special applications in the furniture and furniture supplier industry (HDF, MDF and chipboard). The company is a pioneer in the development of solvent-free, radiation-curing and water-based coating systems in the wood and furniture sector and sells ecologically efficient solutions to its worldwide customer base from its headquarters in Kirchlengern. Since taking over Akzo Nobel’s film coatings business in 2019, Oskar Nolte has also offered special film coating solutions for paper and plastics and has consistently developed them ever since. Klumpp Coatings was founded in 1919 as a family business and was taken over by SIC Holding in 2020 and integrated into it as a sister company of Oskar Nolte. Klumpp develops and manufactures high-quality, innovative coating systems for use on wood, HDF/MDF, mineral fibre, film and plastic surfaces (PVC/WPC) for the furniture, panel and flooring industries. Together, Oskar Nolte and Klumpp are the world’s leading, independent (family-owned) coating company for large-scale industrial interior applications (flooring, furniture) and thus market and technology leaders. The joint product and service offering combines advanced performance products and strong consulting expertise with ecologically sound manufacturing processes and products. With its presence in Europe, Asia and South America, the company has around 220 employees and generates annual sales of over 91.5 million euros.
Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a world leader in the manufacture, development, distribution and sale of paints, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial and retail customers. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company manufactures and distributes products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams, Valspar®, HGTV HOME® by Sherwin-Williams®®, Dutch Boy®, Krylon®, Minwax®, Thompson’s® Water Seal®, Cabot® and many more. The Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings Group business unit delivers a wide range of advanced solutions to the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets in more than 120 countries around the world.
“This acquisition creates opportunities to accelerate our profitable growth in the global industrial wood coatings market and aligns with our strategy to acquire complementary, high-quality and differentiated companies,” said John G. Morikis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sherwin-Williams. “The extensive offering of Oskar Nolte and Klumpp Coatings also includes unique and innovative film coatings that give us access to additional adjacent growth markets in which Sherwin-Williams is not yet present. We are pleased with the excellent relationships with both multinational and local customers, the strategically thought-out manufacturing capacities, the numerous (customer-specific) approvals, as well as the strong technical sales teams of Oskar Nolte and Klumpp Coatings, which we will continue to use throughout Europe and beyond. We look forward to welcoming the talented employees of these companies to the Sherwin-Williams family upon completion of the transaction.”
“On behalf of the shareholders, I would like to thank the managing directors of SIC Holding, Dr. Arne Deußen and Guido Schweizer, the entire team and our long-standing industry specialist, entrepreneur and co-shareholder Guido Pühse for almost five years of successful cooperation. Following the acquisition of Oskar Nolte in 2018, we were able to expand our traditional business with environmentally friendly wood coating systems for the furniture industry, significantly expand the Group through acquisitions in the field of film and floor coatings and also achieve significant internationalization. We believe we have developed a real hidden champion who, as part of the Sherwin-Williams Group, now represents a platform for further growth,” said Rudolf Ohnesorge, who advised on the transaction for Peter Möhrle Holding. “In addition, I would like to thank Livingstone’s deal team for their outstanding commitment and support during this transaction. The in-depth knowledge of the company, its business model and the specifics of the wood-based materials market, coupled with professional and detail-oriented process management, were key to facilitating this cross-border transaction with a large international strategic acquirer.
Christian Grandin, Managing Partner of Livingstone Partners in Düsseldorf, commented: “Corporate transactions with strategic acquirers are always particularly complex in terms of the confidentiality and sensitivity of corporate data and know-how. Against this background, as advisors in such transactions, we assume a particularly key role in maintaining confidentiality on the one hand, as well as in communicating requirements and expectations and supporting the due diligence process on the other. In the end, it’s about not hindering transactions, but making them possible. We would therefore like to thank the members of the Sherwin-Williams Group’s deal team and the selling shareholders for the trust that all parties have placed in us over the duration of the process. It was a particular pleasure for us to work together again with Peter Möhrle Holding, Mr. Pühse and the management team following numerous joint transactions in the past. We wish the management team and the Sherwin-Williams Group all the best for the successful (further) development of Oskar Nolte and Klumpp Coatings.”
“Following the sale of a majority stake in Ambienta in 2015 and the joint exit of Ambienta and the then managing partner Guido Pühse in 2018, this was already the third time that the Düsseldorf team of Livingstone successfully advised the shareholders of Oskar Nolte on a transaction. Together with the advice provided by Livingstone’s Industry sector teams on the sale of Pinturas Benicarlo to Ferro Corp. and the acquisition of IQAP Masterbatch Group by PolyOne Corp., all these transactions underline Livingstone’s deep market expertise in the global paints, coatings and coatings industry,” added Johannes Faber, Partner at Livingstone Partners in Düsseldorf.
