WPCIA Washington May 30, 2019

　　Showa Denko K.K. (SDK), the parent company of Chicago-based GMM Nonstick Coatings, announced that it acquired all shares of the ILAG Group (ILAG), a specialty non-stick coating chemicals manufacturing company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, and concluded a stock purchase agreement with Helvetica Capital, the owner of ILAG.

　　Non-stick coating chemicals are used on consumer goods such as cookware, bakeware, and home electrical appliances, and also on industrial goods including automotive parts and other industrial equipment. The global market for non-stick coating chemicals is USD $1.2 billion a year.

　　ILAG supplies its non-stick coatings in both the field of consumer goods and industrial goods.

　　The acquisition of ILAG follows SDK’s recent purchase of GMM Nonstick Coatings.

　　GMM and ILAG will operate as sister companies under a newly formed coatings business unit. GMM Nonstick Coatings CEO Ravin Gandhi will lead GMM, and ILAG CEO Hans-Georg Geisel will lead ILAG.

　　“I am obsessed by serving our customers better and faster," Gandhi said. "GMM and ILAG clients will benefit tremendously as we operate at a greater global scale. This deal makes all the sense in the world.”