Pidilite Industries, best known for adhesive brands Fevicol and Fevikwik, is looking to grow its paints venture called Haisha, which launched in select markets last year (FY24).
Talking to FE, Sudhanshu Vats, MD designate, Pidilite, said the company was perfecting its paints business model, targeting mainly rural and semi-urban consumers currently. The venture could be expanded into urban areas and taken to more markets in the future, he added.
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The comments acquire significance as Pidilite among other companies such as Berger Paints, JSW Paints and Indigo Paints is said to be in the fray to buy paint maker AkzoNobel India. The latter’s parent entity Akzo Nobel NV is looking at a potential sell-off of its stake in the India unit as competition intensifies in the domestic paints market. Akzo Nobel NV holds nearly 75% stake in its Indian subsidiary.
In response to specific queries on Pidilite’s interest in AkzoNobel India, Vats said, “We continuously look at opportunities. It is an ongoing process. In the last five to seven years, we’ve done some very successful partnerships and acquisitions. This is something which we keep doing. At this point, however, I would not like to comment on speculation.”
In the last few years, Pidilite has expanded into adjacencies such as sealants and protective coatings as it has sought to diversify its operations. While FY24 saw the firm get into lending and paints as part of its diversification programme, the company had indicated in early FY25 that it would continue to tap more areas within home improvement to expand its basket of offerings.
“We keep looking at pioneer categories that we can test and grow. The endeavour for us is to convert pioneer categories into growth categories and finally into core categories,” Vats said.
While a decade ago, almost 80% of Pidilite’s sales came from core categories such as adhesives, the skew has changed in favour of newer segments in recent years. Vats said that almost 45% of the business now comes from growth categories and 55% comes from core categories. The lending business, which is in pilot stage at the moment provides retail and small-ticket loans to dealers.
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