German Wood Coatings Companies Oskar Nolte and Klumpp Coatings about to be acquired by The Sherwin-Williams Company
The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) has announced an agreement to acquire Germany-based Specialized Industrial Coatings Holding (SIC Holding), a Peter Möhrle Holding/GP Capital UG venture comprised of Oskar Nolte GmbH and Klumpp Coatings GmbH. With this acquisition, Oskar Nolte and Klumpp Coatings join a premier global paints and coatings company with more than US$ 19 Billion in sales globally. Upon completion of the transaction, Oskar Nolte and Klumpp Coatings will become a part of the Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings Group in the Industrial Wood operating segment.
Livingstone’s industrial sector team acted as exclusive M&A-Advisor for all selling shareholders throughout the international process. The parties have agreed to maintain confidentiality regarding the key terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by early 2023, pending customary regulatory approvals.
Oskar Nolte is the globally leading manufacturer of high-performance wood coating systems for specialty applications within the furniture industry and its suppliers (thin MDF, Particle Board). It has been at the forefront of developing solvent-free radiation-cured and water-based coating systems, distributing eco-efficient solutions to its customers globally from its production base in Kirchlengern, Germany. In 2019 the company added specialist foil coating solutions (paper and plastics) via the acquisition of Akzo Nobel’s business operations in that segment. Klumpp Coatings was founded in 1919 as a family business and has been acquired by and integrated into SIC Holding in 2020, becoming a sister company to Oskar Nolte. Klumpp develops and manufactures high-quality, innovative coating systems for application on wood, HDF/MDF, mineral fiber, foil, and plastic surfaces (PVC/WPC) for the furniture, paneling, and flooring industry. Together, Oskar Nolte and Klumpp have been the global independent (family-owned) coatings company for large industrial interior housing applications (flooring, furniture) and thus market and technology leader. The product and service offering combines advanced performance products and a strong consulting expertise with ecologically sound products and manufacturing processes. With a presence in Europe, Asia and South America, the business has approximately 220 employees and annual sales of more than € 91.5 Million.
Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution and sale of paint, coatings, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, the company manufactures products under well-known brand names 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 supplies a broad range of highly engineered solutions for 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 market and fits our strategy of acquiring complementary, high-quality and differentiated businesses,” said Sherwin-Williams Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John G. Morikis. “Oskar Nolte’s and Klumpp Coatings’ extensive offerings include unique and innovative foil coatings, which provide us with access to another adjacent growth markets where Sherwin-Williams has not participated previously. We are excited by Oskar Nolte’s and Klumpp Coatings’ strong technical and commercial teams, excellent relationships with multi-national and local customers, strategically located manufacturing, and key specification and approval positions, all of which we will leverage further throughout Europe and beyond. We look forward to welcoming the talented employees of these businesses to the Sherwin-Williams family upon the close 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 management team as well as our longtime industry advisor, entrepreneur and co-shareholder Guido Pühse for close to five years of successful cooperation. Following the acquisition of Oskar Nolte in 2018 we have been able to grow the heritage business with eco-friendly wood coating systems for the furniture industry as well as to significantly expand and further internationalize the group operations with acquisitions in foil coatings and flooring systems. We believe that we’ve been able to develop a true hidden champion which will be the base for future growth under the new ownership by the Sherwin Williams Group” said Rudolf Ohnesorge, who has been handling the transaction on behalf of Peter Möhrle Holding. “In addition, I would like to thank the Livingstone Deal Team for their outstanding dedication and support throughout this transaction. Their deep knowledge of the company, its business model, and the market, as well as their professional and detail-oriented process management were key to making this cross-border transaction with a large international strategic acquirer possible.”
Christian Grandin, Managing Partner of Livingstone Partners in Düsseldorf, commented: “Trade sales with strategic acquirers are always tricky in terms of confidentiality and sensitivity of company data and know-how. Consequently, the advisors do play a key role in alike transactions maintaining confidentiality on the one hand, while on the other hand managing expectations and supporting the due diligence process in order not to hinder, but to make transactions possible in the end. We would like to thank the deal team members from the Sherwin-Williams Group as well as the selling shareholders for the trust all parties placed in us throughout the process. It has been a privilege to collaborate with Peter Möhrle Holding, Guido Pühse and the management team again, following our multiple encounters in the past. We wish the management team and the Sherwin-Williams Group all the best for a prosperous development of Oskar Nolte and Klumpp Coatings.”
“Following the sale of a majority shareholding to Ambienta in 2015 and realizing the joint exit of Ambienta and the former managing shareholder Guido Pühse in 2018, this was the third time that the Livingstone team in Düsseldorf successfully advised the shareholders of Oskar Nolte on a transaction. Together with the advisory by Livingstone’s industrial sector team on the acquisition of Pinturas Benicarlo by Ferro Corp. and the acquisition of IQAP Masterbatch Group by PolyOne Corp., these transactions underline Livingstone’s deep market expertise within the global paints and coatings industry”, added Johannes Faber, Partner of Livingstone Partner in Düsseldorf.
