Markets Served: Decorative coatings

As this issue went to press, PPG completed the acquisition of Tikkurila. Tikkurila was established in 1862, and is headquartered in Vantaa, Finland. The company is a leading producer and distributor of decorative paint and coatings with operations in 11 countries and more than 80% of its revenue coming from Finland, Sweden, Russia, Poland, and the Baltic states. Its brands include Tikkurila, ALCRO, Teks, Vivacolor, and Beckers. Tikkurila uses the Beckers brand only in its decorative paints in Scandinavian countries as well as in some parts of Eastern Europe under a license from Aktiebolaget Wilh. Becker, obtained in conjunction with its acquisition of Alcro-Beckers Ab in 2001. Tikkurila’s industrial paint business produces paints and coatings for the wood and metal industries, among others. The company employs approximately 2,400 people globally and reported sales of approximately €582 million in 2020.

“We are proud of the value we have created through this combination for employees, customers, investors and all other stakeholders,” said Jari Paasikivi, chairman of the board, Tikkurila Oyj. “With PPG, Tikkurila employees will have access to additional growth opportunities, while customers will benefit from PPG’s focus on partnership, innovation and growth.”

Markus Melkko has been named interim CEO of Tikkurila Oyj, effective immediately, in addition to his current responsibilities as its CFO.

Following the closing of PPG’s acquisition of Tikkurila on June 10, 2021, Elisa Markula notified the Tikkurila board of directors of her decision to resign as president and CEO of Tikkurila to take a CEO role at another company in another industry sector.

“I want to thank Elisa for her leadership and many contributions to Tikkurila,” said Tim Knavish, PPG executive vice president. “She has built a strong team and together they executed a strategy to profitably grow the Tikkurila business. These efforts helped to enhance the value and reputation of Tikkurila, and we are pleased it is now part of the PPG family. We wish Elisa all the best in her future endeavours. Markus is a proven leader and he has been instrumental in the transformation of the Tikkurila business, which positions us well to achieve continued growth and success. He has played a key role on the leadership team in executing the business strategy and delivering increased value to Tikkurila stakeholders.”

Melkko joined Tikkurila in 2019 and has served as CFO and a member of the management team.

Markets Served: Decorative coatings

Tikkurila Oyj manufactures paints and lacquers. Tikkurila is the market leader in decorative paints in Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries. Russia, Sweden, Finland and Poland account for 80 percent of the group’s revenue.

Tikkurila recently launched a new fire-retardant paint system that improves the safety of wooden buildings. Tikkurila is the first Finnish company to launch a twice top-coatable fire-retardant paint system for the industrial painting of wood facades. The system has the best possible reaction to fire classification for wood B-s1, d0, and it provides long-term protection against weathering of exterior cladding, according to the company.

Tikkurila’s new fire-retardant paint system improves the safety of industrially painted wood buildings as the facades can be top-coated not only once but twice and they still have the best possible reaction to fire classification for wood.

The paint system consists of Tikkurila’s Fontefire WF water-borne intumescent fire-retardant coating and two new water-borne and tintable paints: Ultra Pro WF-M intermediate coat and Ultra Pro WF 10 topcoat. The new fire-retardant paint system protects the exterior cladding against fire and in addition, the intermediate coat and topcoat together give the facade long-term protection against weathering, moisture, sunlight and dirt.

“Standard exterior paints, and acrylic paints in general, spread fire. Fire-retardant paint systems increase safety in two ways: They slow down the ignition of wood and spread of fire, while also creating less smoke.

Compared to existing solutions, the new system allows claddings to be top-coated twice, while the requirements for the highest possible fire reaction class B-s1, d0 is still fulfilled”, said Arto Nummela, Group Portfolio Development manager for Tikkurila’s wood industry.

Markets Served: Decorative coatings

Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. Tikkurila is the market leader in decorative paints in Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries. Russia, Sweden, Finland and Poland account for 80 percent of the group’s revenue.

Tikkurila has joined the Indoor Air Quality Ecosystem (IAQe) initiative.

The purpose of the IAQe initiative, launched in 2018 and funded by Business Finland, is to develop new solutions that improve indoor air quality, bring together Finnish expertise and export them to the international markets. The objective is to work together to improve indoor air quality and to find new solutions in the form of joint and pilot projects.

The project brings together research institutions, Finnish companies and other organizations; the ecosystem consists of more than 20 partners in addition to Tikkurila. This cooperation is based on the activities of the organizations themselves, supported by external experts.

“The IAQe combines the skills and needs of many organizations to enable cooperation to achieve and maintain healthy indoor air. Joint projects and solutions enable a new kind of service development, opening up business areas that would be inaccessible to individual actors,” said Jari Erkkilä, who is in charge of the project.

One of Tikkurila’s sustainability customer promises is that Tikkurila will improve and protect air quality with its products and professional services.

For Tikkurila as paint manufacturer, eco-friendliness means, among other things, that the company develops and promotes the use of products that have as low an environmental impact as possible.

“Thanks to our high-quality, low-emission and eco-labelled products, indoor air quality will be better and health risks lower. We have a firm belief that, through the IAQe project and partners, we will promote the use of high-quality surface treatment products and the development of comprehensive services, thereby leading to cleaner indoor air,” said Joonas Auvinen, Tikkurila’s director for Business & Portfolio Development, Professionals.

Markets Served: Decorative coatings

Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. Tikkurila is the market leader in decorative paints in Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries. Russia, Sweden, Finland and Poland account for 80 percent of the group’s revenue.

In line with its cost savings program of at least €30 million, Tikkurila announced it will close down two production sites – one in Germany and one in Russia – by end of 2018.

In 2017, Tikkurila launched an extensive program to boost profitability with the aim of achieving savings of at least €30 million and improving cost competitiveness.

“As part of the program, we announced the divestment of our unprofitable business operations in the Balkan area. We are preparing further actions to optimize our future production and logistics network in all our operating countries. Based on this we have, for instance, decided to close down the production facilities in southwestern Russia and in Germany by the end of 2018. In addition, we have changed our organization model. As a result, decision-making and business development are now handled more at the group level,” Jukka Havia, CFO said.

Markets Served: Decorative coatings

Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. Tikkurila is the market leader in decorative paints in Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries. Russia, Sweden, Finland and Poland account for 80 percent of the Group’s revenue. Tikkurila is one of the key partners of the Finnish pavilion at the 2017 World Expo which will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan June 10 – September 10. At the expo, Tikkurila will promote its sustainable solutions for energy efficiency and a more sustainable living. All the interior and exterior surfaces of the Finnish pavilion will be painted with Tikkurila’s surface treatment solutions.

Tikkurila has had operations in Kazakhstan since 2006, and the company is present in all Central Asian countries. Tikkurila, which is the market leader in Kazakhstan in premium products, was the first Western paint producer to start local production in the country.

“Tikkurila is an active player in Kazakhstan. In 2015, we opened a factory in Almaty, and currently employ around 40 people in the country. Our new ecological factory produces water-borne decorative paints to meet the needs of Central Asian market,” said Petri Miettinen, senior vice president, Supply Chain Management & HSEQ at Tikkurila.

Markets Served: Decorative coatings

Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. Tikkurila is the market leader in decorative paints in Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries. Russia, Sweden, Finland and Poland account for 80 percent of the Group’s revenue. Tikkurila has decided to change its business model in the Ukrainian and Belarussian markets, and has entered into an agreement to sell the entire share capital of its subsidiaries in Ukraine and Belarus to a company established by Tikkurila’s local management. The new company will continue the distribution of Tikkurila’s products in both countries. The combined revenue of the two companies to be sold was approximately €12 million in 2015, and the number of employees totaled 90. It is estimated that the transaction, subject to fulfilment of agreed preconditions, will be closed during the second quarter of 2016.

Markets Served: Decorative coatings

Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. The main office and most of the production is located in Vantaa near Helsinki. Tikkurila is the market leader in decorative paints in Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries. Russia, Sweden, Finland and Poland account for 80 percent of the Group’s revenue. Tikkurila focuses on higher price and quality grade paints, which are manufactured in 11 production units in eight countries. The highest production capacity is located in Russia, where the company has been operating since the 1970s. Russia is Tikkurila’s largest single market. The company currently has 3,142 employees. Tikkurila reported $750 million in revenue for 2014.

Markets Served: Decorative coatings

T Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. The main office and most of the production is located in Vantaa near Helsinki. Tikkurila is the market leader in decorative paints in Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries. Russia, Sweden, Finland and Poland account for 80 percent of the Group’s revenue. Tikkurila focuses on higher price and quality grade paints, which are manufactured in 11 production units in eight countries. The highest production capacity is located in Russia, where the company has been operating since the 1970s. Russia is Tikkurila’s largest single market. The company currently has 3,227 employees. Tikkurila reported $887.9 million in revenue for 2013.