Coatings World - July 2010

The Comex Group Mexico City, Mexico www.thecomexgroup.com PRIVATE COMPANY

Comex Group is the leading paint producer in Central and South America and the fourth largest architectural paint manufacturer in North America. Comex serves professional and DIY customers through more than 3,300 locations from Canada to Panama. Comex Group’s wide range of products are manufactured and marketed through a group of regional companies. Comex Group’s companies in the U.S. and Canada were formerly part of Professional Paint, Inc. (PPI). PPI was brought into the Comex Group in 2004.

PPI’s network of regional paint formulators sell under different brands in the U.S. including Color Wheel in

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Hempel A/S Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark www.hempel.com PRIVATE COMPANY YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1915 COATINGS REVENUES: $1.152 billion TOTAL REVENUES: $1.152 billion

In 2009 Hempel’s revenues fell to $1.152 billion. The firm announced uring the year that in order to meet worldwide demand, it is building two new factories in China and Poland, and planning a third in Argentina. The Polish and Chinese factories should come online in 2010.

On the merger and acquisition front, beginning in January 2009, in a deal worth €105 million, Hempel acquired the remaining shares of Hempel-Hai Hong from China Merchants Holding (International) Co. Ltd, integrating all of its activities in China and the Asia Pacific region into one organization. As part of the Asia Pacific regional inte-

SEGMENT BREAKDOWN

• Architectural: 75%

• Industrial: 15%

• OEM: 5%

• Auto refinish: 5%

Florida, Frazee in California, Kwal Paint in Colorado, Parker Paint in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and General Paint in Canada. Comex’s industrial line of paint, coatings and building products complement PPI’s residential and commercial paint lines. Comex Group also operates Comex Mexico and Comex Central America. Comex Group’s, sales are estimated to be $1.2 billion in 2009. Broken down, approximately 75% of sales came from the architectural segment, 15% from industrial, 5% from OEM (excluding automotive) and 5% from auto refinish.

The Comex Group, through its Comex Industrial Coatings (CIC) busi-

KEY PEOPLE Marcos Achar, CEO, Comex Group; Leon Cohen, president, Comex Mexico; Marcos Achar Meyohas, vice president treasurer; Elias Achar, vice president operations; Kent Child, president, U.S. and Canada.

ness, is an integral part of the ongoing four phase rehabilitation project at the McDonald Observatory, a research unit of the University of Texas at Austin. CIC coatings are being used to protect the sensitive and expensive equipment housed in the various buildings. Approximately 14,000 sq. ft. of external surface area is currently covered with CIC product.

Comex also opened the first Visual Color Evaluation Lab in Mexico. The Visual Color Evaluation Lab, considered to be the first facility in America devoted to observing architectural paint colors, opened its doors in Tepexpan, State of Mexico. ;

SEGMENT BREAKDOWN

• Marine
• Protective
• Container
• Yacht
• Decorative
KEY PEOPLE
Pierre Yves Jullien, group president and CEO; Kim Junge
Andersen, group executive VP and CFO; Key managers:
Jannik Allentoft, marine; Sueno Johnsen, protective; Lars
Hermansen, container; Christian Ottosen, yacht; Soren
Nyburg Rasmussen, technical director.

gration, Hempel renamed its Chinese company Hempel China.

Hempel China received the Outstanding Performance Award 2009. The prestigious award was given to ten multinational companies that have worked in China for more than ten years, and have made significant contributions to the Chinese coatings industry.

During the year, Hempel was also named Supplier of the Year 2010 by Vestas Towers A/S.

In December 2009, Hempel acquired the remaining share-holding in Hempel Indonesia to reach 100 percent ownership.

Lastly, it was announced in January 2010, in a deal with United Industries Company KSCC, Hempel increased its shares in Dahna Paint Middle East to 51.1 percent. At the same time, Hempel increased its shares in Hempel Qatar and Hempel Emirates from 21.2 percent to 29 percent.

During the year, Hempel introduced a new universal primer, Hempadur Quattro anticorrosive coating that is suitable for a wide range of surfaces and offers a year-round application window. It has been type-approved in accordance with IMO/PSPC rules for ballast tanks which call for 15-year protection. ;