Henkel wants to take over specialty coatings company Stahl
Henkel intends to acquire the Dutch Stahl Group for a purchase price of 2.1 billion euros. Stahl is a global provider of high-performance specialty coatings for flexible materials and supplies leading companies worldwide in the automotive, fashion & lifestyle and packaging sectors.
The portfolio of the Stahl Group, which is majority-owned by the French private equity company Wendel SE, includes leather finish coatings, performance coatings and high-performance coatings for paper packaging and graphic applications. Stahl employs around 1,700 people and generated adjusted sales of around EUR 725 million in the 2025 financial year, with a balanced regional distribution. "With the acquisition of Stahl, we will further strengthen our Adhesive Technologies business unit in line with our strategic agenda for holistic growth. It will enable us to expand our business into the attractive adjacent category of specialty coatings with product offerings in our core and new end markets. This will further drive the growth of Adhesive Technologies. Together with the recently announced intention to acquire ATP Adhesive Systems, we have agreed on two significant M&A projects that will add nearly one billion in additional sales and significantly drive the growth potential for our world-leading Adhesive Technologies business," said Carsten Knobel, CEO of Henkel.
Stahl Group complements Henkel's business
"Stahl operates a low-capital, knowledge-based and service-oriented business model with a high degree of customization, making it an excellent strategic fit for our business. The company offers a complementary portfolio serving different customer segments, many of which are already served by Adhesive Technologies. In addition, Stahl has valuable complementary technology and R&D capabilities that enable us to offer even more innovation to our customers. As the majority of sales are generated by environmentally friendly, water-based solutions, Stahl will further underpin our sustainability ambitions," said Mark Dorn, Henkel Management Board member responsible for the Adhesive Technologies business unit. The transaction remains subject to certain conditions, including mandatory consultation processes, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.