BASF Coatings recently announced its intention to sell the decorative paints business of RELIUS COATINGS GmbH & Co. KG and well as the respective subsidiaries in France and the Netherlands. The business encompasses decorative paints and plaster as well as coatings and glazing for construction applications.
”In a very competitive market, we have been successful in stabilizing the RELIUS deco paints primarily in the areas of brand, distribution and innovation,” said Raimar Jahn, president of the Coatings division of BASF. “To be profitable over the long-term, however, our market share is too low, particularly in Germany. For this reason, we believe that the RELIUS deco paints will develop better in another environment." Regionally, RELIUS COATINGS s focused on Germany and selected countries in Europe. In 2010, the business had total sales of about €80 million. The sites in Memmingen, Germany, and Deurne, Netherlands, are part of the divestiture in addition to distribution offices of RELIUS for decorative paints. RELIUS currently employs about 440 people in this business. This includes about 80 employees at the RELIUS site in Oldenburg who work for the decorative paints business there. Note: BASF’s business with decorative paints in South America and China is not affected by the planned divestiture and will be further expanded. The business with industrial coatings of RELIUS COATINGS that is managed out of the Oldenburg site will remain an integral part of BASF Coatings.
In 2006, BASF acquired RELIUS COATINGS GmbH and Co. KG as a part of the Degussa construction chemicals business. The decorative paint business of RELIUS focuses on direct sales to painters and specialist dealers. In Germany and France, RELIUS has about 30 distribution offices. In addition, RELIUS markets decorative paints through importers in selected countries in Western Europe. In the Netherlands, RELIUS manufactures and markets products of the two brands RELIUS FLEURIT and RELIUS HOEKA from its site in Deurne.
BASF's businesses that serve the protective and marine coatings, general industry coatings markets as well as coatings for rotor blades for wind energy facilities are explicitly not part of the planned divestiture. These activities will be further developed and globally expanded as a part of BASF’s Industrial Coatings business, company executives said.
About BASF Coatings BASF Coatings develops, produces and markets a high-quality range of innovative automotive OEM coatings, automotive refinishes and industrial coatings as well as decorative paints. BASF has significant market positions in the Coatings sector in Europe, North America, South America and the Asia/Pacific region.
