Sherwin-Williams Completes Acquisition of Comex U.S./Canada Business

The Sherwin-Williams Company SHW has completed the acquisition of the U.S./Canada business of Consorcio Comex, S.A. de C.V. Sherwin-Williams will pay $90 million in cash and assume liabilities currently valued in the range of $75 million.

Sherwin-Williams and Comex remain fully committed to securing regulatory approval from the Federal Competition Commission of Mexico for Sherwin-Williams to complete the acquisition of the operations of Comex in Mexico. To that end, the Stock Purchase Agreement was amended to extend the exclusivity period to March 31, 2014.

Comex operations in the U.S. and Canada consist of 314 company operated stores – 234 in the U.S. and 80 in Canada – and eight manufacturing sites – five in the U.S. and three in Canada. In addition, Comex supplies paint and coatings products to approximately 1,500 external retail locations in Canada. The company manufactures and sells products under well-respected brands such as Frazee, Kwal, Parker Paints, General Paints(TM), Color Wheel and Para. Both Sherwin-Williams and Comex place heavy emphasis on supplying high-quality architectural paints and coatings products in the U.S. and Canada.

Chris Connor, Chairman and CEO of Sherwin-Williams, said, “This is an exciting step forward in our ongoing effort to bring these two respected companies together. The Comex business model in the U.S. and Canada is a good strategic fit for Sherwin-Williams and will improve our ability to serve customers in some of our most important geographic markets.”

Sherwin-Williams will provide additional information about this transaction on its third quarter 2013 earnings conference call at 11:00 a.m. ET on Friday, October 25, 2013.