American paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams has acquired its competitor Valspar for 8.3 billion euro and together they will now become the world’s largest paint company
Worldwide player
Sherwin-Williams paid 35 % more than Valspar’s stock price when it closed on Friday at 9.3 billion dollars (8.3 billion euro), the largest acquisition the company ever made. It will also turn Sherwin-Williams into a major international company, because right now, 80 % of its turnover comes from the United States, while Valspar gets most of its turnover from Asia and Europe.
The merger company will surpass American PPG Industries and Dutch AkzoNobel to become the world’s largest paint company: last year’s joint turnover reached 15.6 billion dollars (13.9 billion euro) and synergies will have to help save several hundred million dollars every year.
Sherwin-Williams still awaits approval from several antitrust authorities before it can finalize the deal.
