Berger Paints ties up with Becker Acroma

Mumbai: The Kolkata-based paint manufacturer Berger Paints Ltd has tied up with Italian Becker Acroma Spa to launch water-based and polyurethane wood-finish products for the Indian market.

These two products will be followed by glass paints, clear coats, floor coatings, exterior coatings for heritage buildings and other products from the collaboration - Berger-Becker Acroma, in India, in the second phase of expansion beginning in September, said Mr Raja Banerjee, Marketing Manager -Retail.

The technical partnership is an extension of their coil manufacturing set up Berger BIC at Goa. The products will be imported from Italy until substantial volumes are met before manufacturing in India.

“We will use the capabilities of the Goa plant for some time, but will look to set up a greenfield project somewhere in India, going forward,” said Mr Stefano Antoniazzi, Managing Director, Becker Acroma.

The wood finish market in India is estimated at Rs 300 crore, said Mr Abhijit Roy, Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Berger, adding that the company would be looking for a 25-30 per cent share.

Berger, meanwhile, is looking to expand overseas through a mix of both organic and inorganic growth in West Asia and Eastern Europe, said Mr Roy.

“It will be good if it is organic growth, but we will follow a mixed policy. We are in the final stages of closing a deal, and you will hear in the next three months about it from us,” he said.

The company’s turnover for the last fiscal was at Rs 1,500 crore from Indian operations,invest Rs 250 crore from Bangladesh and a miniscule share in Nepal, where they are neck-to-neck with Asian Paints.

The expected turnover from the Indian operations in the financial year 2008-09 is pegged at Rs 1,800 crore, he said. The company recently set up a Greenfield project through a 100 per cent subsidiary in southern Russia.

The company has a tie-up with Becker in Bangladesh and is open to similar tie-ups with them in Nepal and Russia, for the sales and marketing of its products.