Berger Paints India Ltd is an Indian multinational paint company, based in Kolkata.
History
European
In 1760, Louis Berger started a
dye and
pigment manufacturing business in
England, which later changed to Louis Berger & Sons Limited. In 1770, Louis Steigenberger shifted from
Frankfurt to
London to sell a
Prussian blue colour, which was made using his own formula. He perfected this process & art of the blue colour, which was the colour of most military uniforms of that time. He then changed his name to Lewis Berger. By 1870, Berger Paints was selling 19 different pigments such as black lead, sulphur, sealing wax and mustard. After his death, his sons took over the business.
In the UK, the company, which by then was known as Berger, Jenson and Nicholson, was acquired by
Hoechst AG in 1970 and by Williams Holdings in 1988.
Indian subcontinent
On 17 December 1923, Mr. Hadfield set up Hadfield's (India) Ltd., a small paint company in
Calcutta.
Towards the end of 1947, British Paints acquired Hadfield's (India) Ltd and thus British Paints (India) Ltd was incorporated in the State of West Bengal.
In 1951, sales offices were opened in
Delhi and
Bombay and a depot was started in
Guwahati. In 1969, Berger Jenson Nicholson Limited, UK bought British Paints (India) Ltd. This marked the beginning of Lewis Berger's legacy in India.
In the year 1973, D. Madhukar took over as the managing director. Sales figures reached over 16
crore by 1978.
The 80s, and the 90s, saw the launch of many new products such as
emulsions and distempers. In 1991,
UB Group sold the company to Kuldip Singh Dhingra, a shopkeeper from
Amritsar, and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra.
Subir Bose took over as managing director on 1 July 1994.
Bose retired on 30 June 2012, handing over the company to Abhijit Roy, the current managing director.
In March 2013, Berger Paints acquired Mumbai-based architectural paints division of Sherwin-Williams.
Pakistan
On 25 March 1950, Berger Paints Pakistan Limited was incorporated in Pakistan. In 1955, the Karachi factory was established. In 1974, Berger Pakistan became a public limited company. In 1974, Berger Pakistan 50.62% shares were held by Jenson & Nicholson Limited (U.K. parent company), 49.38% shares were held by Pakistani investors. In 1991, Slotrapid Limited, a British Virgin Island company, acquired control of Berger Paints Pakistan Limited by purchasing 50.62% shares of the company.
Bangladesh
In the geographical region of
Bangladesh, Berger Paints were imported from Berger UK and then from Berger Pakistan. In 1970, the Kalurghat, Chittagong factory was inaugurated. In 1980, the name of the company changed from J&N (Bangladesh) Limited to Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited.
Operations
Apart from operations in Russia and a production facility at the Berger manufacturing unit at
Krasnodar, Berger Paints India also has an operational unit in
Nepal. They have also acquired Bolix SA of Poland, a provider of External Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS) in
Eastern Europe.
External links
