Japan's Kansai Paint purchases European coatings maker Helios at 572 mln euros

Japan's Kansai Paint has announced its 572 million euros deal for purchasing European coatings maker Helios as the Japanese company starts its expansion strategy in Europe, according to the Slovenian Press Agency(STA) on Wednesday.

Kansai Paint CEO Hiroshi Ishino told the press on Wednesday that Helios, the Domzale-based coatings maker just outside of Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana, will preserve all its brands.

Helios owners - Ring International Holding, Franklin Templeton and the GSO fund - signed the contract to sell the full stake in the coatings maker in Vienna on Tuesday, according to the STA report.

But the whole sales procedure will be wrapped up in two to three months, said the report.

"Helios has high quality products, especially industrial coatings. Demand for these products is not big only in Europe and Japan but also in China and the Middle East," Ishino told the STA.

After the takeover, the Helios group will become Kansai's European centre of innovation, research, development, production and distribution.

Helios, currently serving more than 50,000 customers from over 60 countries, was sold to Austrian holding Ring International in 2014 for 145 million euros, which was secured by the holding as well as US funds Franklin Templeton and Blackstone.

One of the two Helios directors, David Kubala, said the time for sale seemed right, as Kansai was looking for an experienced partner for expansion to Europe.

"We are proud to have become an important member of the group in Europe and that the Japanese company recognised our potential," Kubala said.

Kansai Paint is one of the top 10 paint manufacturers in the world, generating annual sales of over 2.6 billion euros. Endit