The German Henkel Group announces the acquisition of Stahl for 2.1 billion euros. Stahl, based in Waalwijk in the Netherlands, has been majority-owned for 20 years by Wendel, a French private equity firm.
"Both companies, headquartered in Europe, offer complementary specialty solutions to common end markets, laying the foundations for commercial synergies says Stahl.
Stahl, which has around 1,700 employees and sales of around 725 million euros in fiscal 2025, supplies specialized high-performance coatings for flexible materials in the automotive, fashion, lifestyle and packaging industries (paper and cardboard, foils, flexible packaging and labels).
Henkel, which employs around 47,000 people worldwide and posted sales of 21.6 billion euros in the last financial year, offers a varied portfolio of hair care products, detergents, fabric softeners, as well as adhesives, sealants and functional coatings. These offerings are divided into two business lines, Consumer Brands and Adhesive Technologies.
Carsten Knobel, Chairman of the Henkel Management Board, comments: "This acquisition will enable us to expand into the attractive specialty coatings category, with product offerings in our key markets as well as in new end markets, driving growth in our Adhesive Technologies business."
In mid-January, Henkel also announced another major acquisition project, with the purchase of ATP Adhesive Systems, which specializes in water-based high-performance specialty adhesive tapes for various sectors, including graphic arts. These two mergers and acquisitions represent sales of almost one billion euros, and strengthen " the growth potential of the Adhesive Technologies business on an international scale".
