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Axalta will bolt on Valspar’s wood coating business.
On May 22 last year (2016) I complained about consolidation in the wood finishing industry, which is eliminating competition. The latest was Sherwin-Williams buying Valspar, a move that would effectively remove Valspar as a company independent of the interests of Sherwin-Williams. Many of you agreed with my complaint.
The next day I reported that the Federal Trade Commission was looking into this. I guess they heard us because the latest reports are that if the larger consolidation of these two giant companies goes through, Valspar will have to spin off its wood coatings business to a company called Axalta Coatings Systems. This company currently supplies coatings to many other industries, but they don’t sell any wood coatings.
So for a while, at least, the Valspar brand will continue separate from Sherwin-Williams because Axalta intends to operate Valspar as a “pure bolt-on.”
