MOUNT OLIVE, NJ — BASF Corp. has completed the acquisition of the Morton Industrial Coatings business from Rohm and Haas Co., and has named the acquired business the BASF Corp. Industrial Coatings business group. The unit, to be based in Batavia, IL, is part of BASF’s Coatings and Colorants Division, headquartered in Southfield, MI. The business is a manufacturer of extrusion and general industrial coatings and coil coatings.
In a related move, BASF has transferred its former industrial-coatings business to the company’s Automotive OEM Coatings business group, a move that the company said reflects the business’s focus on the automotive industry.
Jim Kendall, formerly a Rohm and Haas vice president and head of the Morton Industrial Coatings business, has been named a BASF vice president and will lead the new Industrial Coatings unit. BASF also said that more than 500 employees from five Morton Industrial Coatings manufacturing sites will be integrated into BASF’s coatings operations.
Klaus Peter Loebbe, who heads the BASF Group’s Coatings Division, said the acquisition represents “a decisive step to strengthen BASF’s participation in the worldwide coil-coatings market.”
