Berger Paints is out of the race to acquire a stake in Akzo Nobel’s paints due to the high valuation of the company. The chairman of Berger Paints, Rishma Kaur said the paint maker will focus more on growing organically and has set the target of achieving Rs 20,000 crore in annual revenue by 2030, according to the Business Standard.
“Under the current circumstances, it does not align with our strategy. Therefore, we have not placed any bid so far,” said Kaur, according to PTI. “We have capability to grow organically, and that remains our priority,” she added.
India’s second largest paint maker has also planned to pump around Rs 2,000 crore in the upcoming three years to expand business in Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. The company, as a part of its organic growth strategy, will explore innovation, branding and distribution channel efficiencies to strengthen its position.
Kaur highlighted that Berger Paints is more focused on fulfilling targets and budgets rather than running the race to become number one.
“We don’t have any such ego that we must be number one or number two. Our priority is to stick to our planned targets and budgets. As long as we meet our own growth objectives, we are satisfied,” said Kaur.
New Entrants Shake Up Paint Industry
This comes at a time when the competition in the Indian paint industry has intensified with more players entering the segment driven by shorter repainting cycles, increased government spending on homes and infrastructure, and demand for industrial paints fueled by auto sector growth.
A study by CareEdge Ratings, cited by PTI, stated that the new players like Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Paints and KM Birla-owned Birla Opus have disrupted the market with their aggressive expansion strategy, including increasing production capacity, dealer networks, and promotional and advertising expenditure. The report also mentioned that the tough competition has also brought down the operating margins for the sector from 18% between FY20-FY24 to 16% in the first half of FY25. The ratings agency has predicted the margin will further decrease to 14%, mainly due to increasing competition and pricing pressures.
