The Sadolin Paints Brand will remain on the market despite the company being acquired recently by Japanese Paint Company, Kansai Plascon.
Kansai Plascon Africa Limited, a subsidiary of the Japanese company announced at the start of August that they had acquired Sadolin Paints East Africa Limited.
As such, Sadolin Paints changed its name to Plascon.
“It is only a name change. Our paints still remain the same quality products that you have trusted for the past 55 years,” the company now says on its website.
Sadolin Paints East Africa Limited belonged to and was a licensee of AkzoNobel, a Dutch Multinational.
Following its acquisition by Plascon, a legal battle ensued between AkzoNobel and Plascon on the ownership of the brand Sadolin.
Sadolin Uganda had earlier obtained a local court injunction, barring AkzoNobel from “directly or indirectly soliciting and/or selling any Sadolin paint products in Uganda.”
The court order also prohibited AkzoNobel from using the Weatherguard trademark which is owned by AkzoNobel and used in various regions across the world including Southern Africa.
This court order however, was this week set aside in a higher court ruling, which implies that AkzoNobel retains the right to use the Sadolin Brand.
Johann Smidt, the Director for AkzoNobel Decorative Paints in Sub-Saharan Africa welcomed the new court ruling, saying in a statement, “The decision by the court to set aside the court order was welcomed by the AkzoNobel team. It means we remove all doubt in the minds of our partners and all the consumers that love Sadolin paint.”
After Sadolin was acquired by Plascon, Akzo Nobel decided to cancel its agreement with the East African company.
The cancellation takes effect in January next year, after which AkzoNobel will seek to partner with other regional paint manufacturers to continue producing Sadolin Paints.
“We are currently in the final stages of signing sales, manufacturing and distribution agreement with a local partner which further solidifies our commitment to the region to ensure supply to the, market once the current licensee agreement has ended,” Director Smidt said.
“With this agreement, we hope to invest in manufacturing plants which will result in jobs created and will in turn stimulate the economy in East Africa.”