Rocell to exit paints biz following proposed sale of Colobrite

Market leader in tile and bathware industry Royal Ceramic PLC, which entered the country’s paint market five years ago, is planning to divest its paints manufacturing facility, marking an exit from the business, Mirror Business learns. 

Royal Ceramic, in 2011, fully acquired Ever Paint and Chemical Industries (Pvt.) Ltd, a paint and allied product manufacturer, operating under the brand name Colorbrite, at a consideration of Rs.125 million.

“Colorbrite has been losing money and at the same time it was not easy to gain market share with a strong global player and several other large local players in the market,” a source close to the development said. 

Colorbrite is an established brand with over 30 years of history and boasts of a considerable market among medium-scale paint industries in Sri Lanka.  

The company’s main business  is manufacturing  and  distribution  of  thinners, decorative  paints,  enamel paints, emulsion paints  and  masonry  products, etc., at its Hanwella  plant.

Royal Ceramic was the third owner of Colorbrite as Ever Paint acquired it in 2002 from its original manufacturer.

The paint market, estimated to be over 15 million litres per annum, is dominated by global giant AkzoNobel’s brands Dulux and Glidden, in addition to Nipploac, Robbialac, Multilac and India’s Asian Paints.