Sika acquires US firm Butterfield Color in global expansion plan

Swiss chemicals giant Sika AG has acquired Butterfield Color Inc., an Illinois-based leader in the manufacture of decorative concrete floor products, as it seeks to penetrate the US market.

The company said in a statement that the acquisition of the family-owned business would accelerate its growth by offering top notch solutions for concrete contractors in the North American marketplace.

“The acquisition of Butterfield fits perfectly with our growth strategy in North America, enabling us to reach new contractor customers and better penetrate key projects,” Sika’s regional manager for North America Christoph Ganz said.

Sika did not disclose the amount it spent to acquire the business that generated sales of $20 million in 2016.

The acquisition of Butterfield comes barely 18 months after Sika acquired L.M. Scofield, a Los Angeles-based market leader in the production of concrete colour additives for ready-mixed concrete, as well as decorative products and treatments for concrete refurbishment.

“We see great synergies coming from the combined technologies of Sika, Scofield, and now Butterfield. We are proud to welcome Butterfield’s employees into the Sika team and we are excited about growing our business together,” Mr Ganz said.

Sika’s decision to acquire Butterfield was informed by the latter’s remarkable line of colours and sealers, as well as innovative tools for stamping and texturing – which have seen the company grow tremendously over the past few years.

Sika achieved a new sales record of $3 billion in the first half of 2017, which saw its net profit rising 16 per cent to $286 million. The company expects its sales to exceed $6 billion in 2017.

The firm’s chief executive Paul Schuler said: “We posted double-digit growth rates in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America, Argentina, the Pacific area and in our automotive business, and we have clearly grown much faster than the market in a number of countries.

“The positive performance in the first half of 2017, the opening of a further national subsidiary, and the commissioning of three new factories all bring us one step closer to achieving our strategic targets for 2020.”

With annual growth of 6-8 per cent, Sika targets to realise an Earnings Before Interest & Taxes (EBIT) margin of 14-16 per cent and operating free cash flow of over 10 per cent by 2020.

The company plans to establish six new national subsidiaries and to commission 26 new factories by then.

Join 15,000+ pros getting our weekly digest of news and insights.