BASF plans to sell the decorative paints business of Relius Coatings

BASF Coatings said it plans to sell in the near-term the decorative paints business of Relius Coatings GmbH & Co. KG along with the respective subsidiaries in France and the Netherlands. The business encompasses decorative paints and plaster as well as coatings and glazing for construction applications. Regionally, it is focused on Germany and selected countries in Europe. In 2010, the business had total sales of approximately €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.

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 a part of BASF Coatings.

In 2006, BASF acquired Relius Coatings GmbH and Co. KG as a part of the Degussa construction chemicals business. It remained a company within BASF Coatings.

”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.

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 deco 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.

The businesses with protective and marine coatings, general industry coatings as well as coatings for rotor blades for wind energy facilities are not part of the planned divestiture. These activities will be further developed and globally expanded as a part of BASF’s industrial coatings business.

“The consultation process with the works councils has been started,” said Andreas Fehren, managing director of Relius GmbH & Co. KG. “It is our clear objective to sell the Relius deco paint business in the near-term to another company. By selling we aim to avoid forced redundancies for operational reasons if possible.”