Wattyl to sell Coronado, Lenmar Units as company moves to exit US market

Citation

(2004), "Wattyl to sell Coronado, Lenmar Units as company moves to exit US market", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 33 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2004.12933eab.024

Wattyl to sell Coronado, Lenmar Units as company moves to exit US market

Wattyl to sell Coronado, Lenmar Units as company moves to exit US market

Wattyl Ltd has said it would sell its remaining US coatings business, reportedly to INSL-X Products Corp., as Australia-based Wattyl moves to exit the US coatings market. Wattyl declined to identify the buyer, but INSL-X, based in Stony Point, NY, confirmed that it has signed an agreement to purchase the business. Terms were not disclosed.

Wattyl’s US operations include the architectural-coatings company Coronado Paint Co. Inc., based in Edgewater, FL, and Lenmar Inc., a manufacturer of lacquers and polyurethane coatings based in Baltimore.

Wattyl, based in Sydney, said it was selling its US coatings business as part of a plan to focus on its operations in Australia and New Zealand. Wattyl said it would take a charge against earnings of $40-$45 million (Australian dollars), or $28-$32 million (US), in connection with the divestiture. The company last week issued a weak earnings forecast due to softness in its retail business in Australia and a lack of strengthening in its US sales. Wattyl last year sold its Wasser High-Tech Coatings business, based in Kent, WA, to a private investment group that owns several other North American Coatings businesses. Wattyl in 1999 sold its retail paint operations in the southeastern US, which included 20 stores in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, to PPG Industries Inc.