KANSAI HELIOS – Completion of wefa acquisition strengthen our Railway business and German footprint

The KANSAI HELIOS Group has completed the acquisition of all assets, including all business activities, brands and employees, of Westdeutsche Farben GmbH (“wefa”) by our newly set-up group company, KANSAI HELIOS Wefa, in Essen. With this transaction, the group now has a second location in Germany in addition to KANSAI HELIOS Germany in Buchholz-Mendt. This acquisition creates strong synergies within the group, particularly in the area of railway and other industrial coatings and increases KANSAI HELIOS’ system supplier competence in Europe. wefa’s decades of experience with water-based coatings expands the KANSAI HELIOS Group’s expertise and creates new opportunities in product development. This sets another important milestone in the KANSAI HELIOS Group’s ESG strategy.

wefa is a well-known, certified coatings manufacturer for the European railway industry. wefa has many years of expertise in water-based coatings systems which have environmentally friendly properties. wefa headquarters and production facility are located in Essen, Germany. For many years, wefa has stood for safety and quality as well as for innovation and lasting value – properties that are seamlessly combined with those of the KANSAI HELIOS Group. wefa‘s products has became part of the KANSAI HELIOS Group’s comprehensive range of brands and significantly complement the existing range of brands in the areas of coatings for railway and ACE (agricultural, construction and earthmoving machinery). In the railway segment, KANSAI HELIOS will in future bundle its entire know-how in the field of railway coatings with the brands wefa and Rembrandtin – worldwide.

Mag.(FH) Dietmar Jost, Executive Director KANSAI HELIOS Group said:

“This acquisition is an important step in the growth strategy of the KANSAI HELIOS Group, which will strengthen its presence in Germany. The group will serve the market as a system supplier with the combined strength of two production units, each specialized in their respective areas: KANSAI HELIOS Germany GmbH in Buchholz-Mendt and the new company in Essen.”

Robert Schramm, the owner of wefa and from 1^st August one of the Managing Directors of KANSAI HELIOS Wefa, is proud:

“This step is a milestone in wefa´s almost 100-year history. Founded as a family company, the brand has now made it into the ranks of the top European coating brands. As a new member of KANSAI HELIOS we will benefit from additional experience and know-how within the group This is a win for wefa and vice versa as our specialized coating formulations complete the new owner’s product range and ensure the highest product quality for a wide range of applications, especially for the railway industry.”

Joining KANSAI HELIOS is an important strategic step for wefa, which automatically becomes part of KANSAI PAINT, one of the world’s leading paint manufacturers. Under the umbrella of KANSAI HELIOS, the company will continue business operations at the current location in Essen. As a full member of the company group, KANSAI HELIOS Wefa has access to the modern laboratories and the experienced research and development teams within the group. This results in completely new opportunities in product design and testing.