Press Release

Asian Paints acquires the Powder Coatings business of Hawcoplast Chemical Ltd and its associates
Mumbai, November 1, 2001 : Asian Paints (India) limited, Indias largest paint manufacturer, today announced the acquisition of the powder coatings business from Hawcoplast Chemical Ltd and its associates. This is the first acquisition made by Asian Paints in India. Asian Paints (India) Ltd, together with its subsidiary Asian Paints Industrial Coatings Ltd has entered into agreement to acquire the powder coatings business for Rs. 160 million and value for the net current assets to be determined on completion of Due Dilligence from Hawcoplast Chemicals Ltd and its associates. The deal between the two companies was signed today evening in Mumbai. M/s Enam Financial Consultants Pvt. Ltd. were the advisors to this deal. Announcing the acquisition, Mr. Ashwin Dani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Asian Paints (India) Limited mentions This is the fastest growing segment in the industrial coatings market registering growth of around 12 % in the last financial year. Since our presence in this segment is marginal, the acquisition will strengthen our presence significantly. Also since the powder coatings segment is growing a a healthy pace, it will fuel growth for the companys industrial t business. He further adds The trend that we have noticed is that other segments like Can, Coil & OLP (Other liquid paints) are gradually switching to powder coatings. It is this trend and available new opportunities that will ensure a bright future for Powder coatings. Hawcoplast Chemical Ltd and its associates are the pioneers in powder coating manufacturing in India. It has one plant at Sarigam (Gujarat) manufacturing powder coatings. Hawcoplast Chemical Ltd manufactures the complete range of powder coatings such as pure epoxy, hybrid(Epoxy polyester), pure polyester, structures, novelties and other functional coatings. The site also has some scope for expansion in future. Hawcoplast Chemical Ltd has a Technology tieup with Oxyplast Limited, Belgium, who are among the leading manufacturers of Powder coatings in the world. The total industrial paint market is estimated to be around 58500 kl (excl. auto) and is valued at Rs. 6600 million for the last financial year 2000-01. The major segments in the Industrial coatings are Protective Coatings, Powder Coatings, Marine Paints, Can/Coil coatings and general industrial/other liquid paints. Industrial business accounts for only 3% of Asian Paints total business and thus represents small portion of the overall sales of the company. In the industrial Copyright Asian Paints.

coatings segment, Asian Paints is present mainly in Protective coatings with marginal presence in marine, coil and powder coatings. The powder and protective coatings segment constitutes around 56% of the total market for industrial paints(auto not included). The remaining segments which are largely technology intensive are also heavily segmented. This is Asian Paints third acquisition in the paints business. The company had earlier made two overseas acquisitions when it acquired the second largest paint company in Sri Lanka in October 1999 and thereafter in November 2000 acquired the paints business of Pacific Paints, Australia. Asian Paints is Indias largest manufacturer of paints with a turnover of Rs 14990 million - selling 180,000 MT/KL of paint in the last financial year. It is the leader in this industry for over three decades. It ranks among the top 15 decorative coatings companies in the world. One of the countrys leading business magazines Business Today in Feb 2001 ranked Asian Paints as the Ninth Best Employer in India. Asian Paints has been recognised as the Fourth Most Admired Company across industries in India through a survey carried out by The Economic Times in association with ORG-Marg. ####

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