Coatings World - July 2015

For its first 50 years in business, Ace was privately held. In 1976, Ace became a retailer-owned cooperative. Each store is independently owned and operated by local entrepreneurs. Today, Ace is the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the hardware industry in terms of wholesale and retail sales and strength of the brand. Ace’s 4,600 stores in all 50 states and more than 60 countries generate annual retail sales of approximately $12 billion. Headquartered in Oak Brook, IL, Ace currently operates 14 distribution centers in the U.S. and one in Shanghai, China. Ace employs approximately 4,500 corporate team members worldwide and has four regional offices, located in Raleigh, NC; Atlanta, GA; Denver, CO; and Woodridge, Illinois. The Ace Paint division generated sales of approximately $175 million in 2014.

Tohpe Corporation is a Japan-based manufacturer that sup- plies paints and other chemical products. Its paints include synthetic resin paints, lacquers, water-based paints, oil-based paints and thinners. The company’s chemical products include synthetic resin adhesive processing agents and synthetic rubber. Additionally, it is involved in the paint related construction activities. The company has 12 subsidiaries and five associated companies. Its offers architectural coatings, exterior paints, steel coatings, concrete protective coatings, marine paints, industrial paints and road paints. In addition, it involves in exterior painting contract and building construction works, as well as in the sale of paint-related equipment. The company was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Sakai City, Japan.

PUBLIC COMPANY YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1915

REVENUE: $181 million MARKETS SERVED

• Onshore coatings • Marine coatings
• Automotive coatings • Decorative
coatings • Adhesives

KEY EXECUTIVES

Shiwaku Hiroshi, pres. and CEO; Kato Kazutami, EVP; Nanping Tadatoshi, outside drt; Esashi Junichi, paint bus drt.

PUBLIC COMPANY YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1926 REVENUE: $175 million MARKETS SERVED

• Architectural coatings

KEY EXECUTIVES

John Venhuizen, president and CEO; William Guzik, CFO.

Ace Paint
Oakbrook, Illinois USA
www.acehardware.com 64 Tohpe Sakai City, Japan www.tohpe.co.jp 63

The company was founded in 1985 under the name Kantara Paints and Chemical Industries specializing in car refinish paints. In 2002 the company opened its current headquarters located in Port Said and changed its name to Kapci Coatings. In 2014 Kapci generated revenue of $189 milliion. Car refinishes accounted for 52 percent of sales; architectural and decorative coatings 32 percent; and wood finishes accounted for the remaining percentages. Kapci Coatings’ production facility is located on 210,000 square meters of space where the company has an annual production capacity of roughly 80,000 tons. Kapci Coatings is currently exporting its paint products to more than 42 countries around the world. It has four branches in China, India, Brazil and the UAE. Kapci recently launched Kapci Dima, a waterborne coating.

Coatings World estimated that The Grebe Group recorded sales of approximately $190 million in 2014. Industrial coatings accounted for 40 percent of sales, non-automotive OEM applications accounted for 40 percent and rail and defense applications accounted for 20 percent. For household articles the firm offers Greblon non-stick coatings and decorative, temperature-resistant coatings. For the stove industry it offers high-temperature resistant coatings. For general industry applications Grebe offers coating systems for metals, plastics and glass in applications such as sewage pipes, household appliances, rail vehicles, mobile phones and defense technology. The group operates facilities in Germany, UK, Italy, Poland, China, Hong Kong Indonesia, India and Japan.