We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
I’ve reported previously on Sherwin-Williams buying Valspar and PPG’s attempt to buy AkzoNobel, which would combine the two largest coatings suppliers in the world.
To complete the purchase of Valspar by Sherwin-Williams, Valspar was required to spin off its wood coatings division to Axalta, which it did. (I had never heard of Axalta before, but it is a large company headquartered in Philadelphia with lots of coatings divisions.) The sale of Valspar to Sherwin-Williams is expected to close on June 21.
PPG met with resistance from AkzoNobel’s stockholders. PPG tried three times before finally giving up. So AkzoNobel remains independent.
You know from my previous postings that I think all these consolidations work against our interests as consumers.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
Bob, I agree with your view on mergers/acquisitions. Once a company becomes publicly traded one way or another, the motivation within the company may shift from pride and pursuit of the best product to “what’s going to make the most money for shareholders.” Naturally, make the product cost less to produce and appeal to the largest consumer base possible.
You definitely predicted this happening and I’m with you anytime big companies merge the consumer suffers like in quality of the product. Hopefully some of these smaller personnel companies will see a increase in sales.
Thank You Bob for the update
All this spinning-off is making my head spin.
Looking a bit deeper (i.e., calling up on Wikipedia), Axalta is the spun-off duPont Coatings Division of E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company. A lot of people have heard of them. 🙂