Sherwin Williams Acquires Another Distributor

Last week Sherwin Williams (SHW) announced the acquisition of Columbia Paint & Coatings, headquartered in Spokane, Wash. Columbia, which has 350 employees and 41 company-owned stores in 11 states makes and distributes paints and coatings in the West and Pacific Northwest. The transaction will be completed upon the receipt of all regulatory approval which is not expected to be a problem

"Columbia Paint & Coatings has built a respected and admired company with 60 years of history in the paint and coatings industry," said H. H. (Larry) Larison, CEO of Columbia Paint & Coatings Co. "Sherwin Williams is a very well managed and highly respected multi-national company and we at Columbia Paint are very excited about this merger and are confident that it will allow us to provide a stronger level of service and support to our customers, both now and in the future."

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Columbia Paint. Sherwin-Williams has great respect for the Columbia Paint organization and we are excited about bringing Columbia Paint into the Sherwin-Williams family," said Christopher M. Connor, chairman and CEO of The Sherwin-Williams Company. "After the transaction is completed, Columbia's paints and coatings will continue to be provided through Columbia's existing stores. We are looking forward to working with the Columbia organization and we believe we will improve our service to professional painting contractors, builders and DIY customers."

At the last earnings call CEO Connor announced he planned to expand the number of stores they sold the the DIY markets. The earlier acquisition of MA Bruder and now this none expands that by over 100 locations. It is a great strategy because Sherwin get it's footprint expanded and does so by going into business with established and successful partners in these areas.

It has been working to date and has been a particular reason Sherwin has weathered the housing situation without a profit drop.