Sherwin-Williams (Vietnam) Limited (Vietnam)

The subject is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Valspar (Singapore) Corporation Pte Ltd - a member of the Sherwin-Williams Group. On 01 Jun 2017, The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) (a core company of the Sherwin-Williams Group) announced that it completed its acquisition of The Valspar Corporation (NYSE: VAL). Under the terms of an agreement, Valspar shareholders received USD 113 per share in cash. In connection with the completion of the transaction, the trade of Valspar common stocks was ceased and the stock code was also delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. This acquisition contains an ambition to create a global leader in the paint and coating market.Entering the Asian market in 1930 and establishing its regional headquarters in Shanghai, The Sherwin-Williams Company is operating businesses in most Asian countries and providing coating solutions with famous brands such as Sherwin-Williams®, Valspar®, Aquaguard®, Ultra®, Debeer Refinish®, Fluropon®, WeatherXL™ and many other products for the construction, consumer, industrial, packaging and transportation, etc.Based on The Sherwin-Williams Company's annual report 2022, the Group raised prudence for the business performance's prospect in 2023 when the major portion of business involves the sale of paint, coatings and related products to segments of the economy that are cyclical, particularly segments relating to construction, housing, manufacturing and oil production, refining, storage and transportation. The sales to these segments are affected by the levels of discretionary consumer and business spending. During economic downturns in these segments, the levels of consumer and business discretionary spending may decrease and the recovery of these segments may lag behind the recovery of the overall economy, adversely influencing the demand for products, sales, earnings, cash flow and other financial conditions. In the first 6 months of 2023, the Vietnam Paint & Printing Ink Association (VPIA) said that the paint market did not show signs of improvement and continued to decrease compared to the same period last year. The unstable market economy caused the paint, ink, paper, and plastic industries to produce moderately because orders plummeted, etc.In the paint and coating market, statistics point out that Vietnam has more than 600 companies operating in the field of production and trade of water-based paints. Of these, 70 companies are foreign-invested, accounting for about 65% of the market share with the presence of many big brands (Dulux, Jotun, Nippon Paint, 4 Oranges, etc.) from countries such as Netherlands, Japan, Thailand and USA. The competition pressure among brands is still high. In the final months, the recovery of many economic segments will likely be delayed compared to initial forecasts when the geopolitical upheavals are strongly escalating in many regions of the world, especially in the Middle East region. In this context, the subject's business result is forecasted not too optimistic in 2023.