Berger Paints India
 | |
| Public company (BSE: 509480, NSE: BERGEPAINT) | |
| Industry | Paint |
| Founded | 17 December 1923 |
| Headquarters | Kolkata, India |
Key people | Kuldip Singh Dhingra , Gurbachan Singh Dhingra , Abhijit Roy (MD) |
| Revenue | ₹30 billion (US$450 million)[1] |
| Profit | ₹1.77 billion (US$26 million)[1] |
Number of employees | 2,666 (2014) |
| Website | bergerpaints.com |
Company history
The history of Berger Paints to the 18th century. In 1770, Louis Steigenberger moved from Frankfurt to London to sell a Prussian blue colour, which was made using his own formula. He then changed his name to Lewis Berger and by 1870 Berger was selling 19 different pigments, including black lead, sulphur, sealing wax and mustard.
After the demise of Lewis Berger his sons took over the business. Sherwin-Williams, an American company bought control of the company in the 1900s.
By the 1940s Mr. Hadfield set up Hadfield's (India) Ltd., a small paint company in Calcutta on 17 December 1923. 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 Mumbai and a depot was started in Guwahati. This resulted in sales rising to Rs. 6 million in 1952. In 1969 Berger, Jenson Nicholson Limited, UK bought British Paints (India) Ltd. This marked the beginning of Lewis Berger’s legacy in India - which the company would later take forward to enviable heights.
D. Madhukar took over as the Managing Director in the year 1973. Under him the company became the fastest growing company in the paint industry as sales figures reached over Rs. 160 million by 1978.
The 80s and the 90s saw the launch of many new products such as emulsions and distempers. The COLOR BANK tinting system was launched through which the consumer can select from a range of over 5000 colors.
Subir Bose has been the Managing Director since 1994, under whom Berger's team currently runs.
In 1991 UB group sold the company to Kuldip Singh Dhingra and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra .
Kuldip Singh Dhingra is the chairman and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra is the vice chairman of the company.
International operations
Apart from operations in Russia, with a production facility at the Berger manufacturing unit at Krasnodar, Berger has also expanded its footprint in Nepal by setting up a second unit. Today Berger’s sister company in Bangladesh is the dominant leader with over 65% market share. In keeping with the Company’s dynamic growth plan, Berger has also acquired Bolix SA of Poland, a leading provider of External Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS) in Eastern Europe. As Berger continues to grow internationally also continues to be the second largest paint company in India.
References
- 1 2 "BSE Plus". Bseindia.com. Retrieved 27 September 2010.