African paint manufacturer, Kansai Paint, has partnered with the management and staff of Zimbabwean group Astra Industries to buy a 63.25 percent interest in the company from the Finance Trust of Zimbabwe, an investment vehicle of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Astra Paints is Zimbabwe’s leading paint company with two operating factories in Harare and Bulawayo. It enjoys 40 percent of the paint market and it also hold other operating subsidiary like Astra Chemicals, which markets and distributes a diversified range of chemical products to industry.
Upon the acquisition, Barloworld will hold 11 percent of the remaining stake while the rest are held by various Zimbabwean companies.
The deal which is worth about $5.5 million will put the Tokyo-listed industrial coatings company as a market leader in the coating business in Zimbabwe. Kansai’s acquisition of Astra shows the company’s confidence in the Zimbabwean economy – a country that is trying to rebuild its economy after …..
This is the second major African deal the coating company has made since it bought Johannesburg-listed Freeworld Coatings for R12 per share in 2011. Freeworld Coatings now trades as Kansai Plascon Africa.
Kansai Plascon Africa CEO Nauman Malik on Friday said “The acquisition will allow the organisation to focus further on its expansion plans and its aim to continue leading the industry.”
“The acquisition will allow the organisation to focus further on its expansion plans and its aim to continue leading the industry.”
President of Kansai Paint in Japan, Hiroshi Ishino, said the group intends to invest in the rest of Africa through its holding in Kansai Plascon Africa. He hopes the partnership between Astra and Kansai will further entrench Kansai’s position as the number one coatings company in Africa.
Kansai Plascon Africa already has a strong factories and brand presence in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Malawi. Where it does not have a factory in a region, it exports out of South Africa into retail outlets and directly to contractors. It has been exporting to various countries in Africa since 2004 including: Mozambique, Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya and Nigeria.
