AkzoNobel Tweaks Coatings Operations

AkzoNobel has opened a new protective coatings facility in Suzhou, China, about 60 miles west of Shanghai.

The Dutch company invested roughly $35 million in the new plant, which is designed to increase capacity in stages over the next 10 years, says Bill McPherson, marine and protective coatings general manager. Eventual capacity will be 50 million L of coatings per year.

Separately, AkzoNobel has reached agreements to sell its decorative paints business in the U.K. and Belgium, fulfilling requirements set by the European Commission when the company acquired ICI at the beginning of this year. AkzoNobel will sell its Crown Paints business in the U.K. and Ireland to Endless LLP, an independent private equity house; and it will sell two Belgian brands to Rieu Investissements, a French coatings producer. AkzoNobel expects to complete both transactions by the end of September.

In June, AkzoNobel divested its Canadian brands Para and Crown Diamond as required by the Canadian Competition Bureau.