Auto coatings sold off

Rohm and Haas is to sell its European Automotive Coatings business, including its manufacturing site in Strullendorf, Germany, to the Mäder Group, an independent manufacturer of hi-tech industrial paints and coatings based in Lille, France, with operations throughout Europe.

The transaction is expected to close later this year.

This transaction completes Rohm and Haas Company’s divestiture of its Automotive Coatings business, which started with the sale of the its Automotive Coatings operations in North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) and the Asia Pacific region to Nippon Paint in October 2006.

The business manufactures a  range of automotive coatings, with a focus on interior water-based products, which are supplied to high-end OEMs.  In addition, the business also produces specialty coatings with applications in the general industrial and optical media markets. The business had sales of $25 million in 2006 and sales of $7 million in first quarter 2007. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.