“It remains to be seen whether further acquisitions will follow”

In February, Kansai Helios acquired Weilburger Coatings and thus the entire industrial coatings business of Grebe Holding. Dietmar Jost, President and Executive Director of Kansai Helios, provides insights into the acquisition and explains why the industrial and railway coatings segment is so attractive for the company.

Kansai Helios has recently made several acquisitions in the industrial and railway coatings segment. Are further acquisitions planned in these or other segments?

Dietmar Jost: In the recent past, we have already made acquisitions with part of the Beckers Group and the company Westdeutsche Farben (Wefa) in the industrial and railway vehicle coatings segments.

As part of Kansai Paint, we are following the same growth strategy: “Good to Great”. This strategy provides for both organic and inorganic growth. Our Group has developed into a strong market player in many areas and we naturally want to continue to strengthen and, if possible, expand these positions in the future. It remains to be seen whether further acquisitions will follow.

Why is the company investing so heavily in the rail vehicle coatings segment?

Jost: The segment is very promising for us. It is expected that rail transport will be the backbone of future mobility in the world due to its cleanliness and environmental friendliness. In this segment, we have built up a good reputation as a system provider and can offer customers comprehensive product solutions using different coating technologies. There is no reason for us not to invest in this area.

How will Weilburger Coatings be integrated into the corporate structure? Will Weilburger remain an independent company within the group or will it be completely absorbed into Kansai?

Jost: The reason for this takeover is that we want to develop further and grow together. There are many synergies between Kansai Helios and Weilburger that we want to utilise to our mutual advantage. We intend to join forces in all areas of our business activities. In research and development, we will work together on future innovations.

We will expand our presence in Germany and also establish a global presence outside Europe, for example in Brazil, India and China. We also want to share our sales networks, benefit from joint raw material purchases and utilise additional production capacities and storage options.

We will also be pooling our strengths in ESG development. The identity with the familiar Weilburger name, the overall image, the products and the associated sub-brands will remain unchanged.

Are changes to the product portfolio planned? Your company already has a whole range of products in the same markets as Weilburger.

Jost: All products will be available and produced in the same way as we are used to from Weilburger. What’s more, within the Kansai Helios Group we will be able to expand our range of products and services.

In addition, we will work on new advanced system solutions by combining the expertise of both companies.

Around 600 people currently work at Weilburger, is this number to be maintained or are there plans to reduce the workforce as part of the takeover?

Jost: We are planning to continue the entire operational business as before, and therefore leave the team and all the usual contacts unchanged.

Reading tip

We reported on this acquisition in the “Top Industry Move” section of the March issue of the European Coatings Journal.