The purchase of Crown Paints by Denmark-based Hempel, which supplies products to the decorative, protective, marine, container and yacht markets, will strengthen its presence in the decorative sector in line with its growth strategy to double the size of the company in the coming years.

Under the agreement, Hempel will continue to develop the business in the UK and Ireland, retaining all of its brands and the entire product range.

Following its acquisition of the business in September 2008, Endless and the management team oversaw the turnaround of Crown Paints from a loss-making company to profits of £20 million on sales of $180 million in 2010.

Crown Paints’ chief executive, Brian Davidson, says the deal is of ‘mutual benefit to the prosperity of both companies’.

‘Hempel recognises the talent, mature infrastructure and strong customer base that we have in our business, and is committed to developing Crown Paints’ brands in the UK and Ireland. In return, we will use our well-developed industry know-how and market position to support the growth of Hempel’s existing decorative businesses,’ he explains.

Pierre-Yves Jullien, chief executive of Hempel, adds, ‘Crown Paints represents everything we were looking for – from a solid position in the market and strong financial situation, to innovative R&D and marketing.’

The Endless team comprised Warwick Ley, Peter Yendall and Indra Valeinis.

Ley, a partner at the private equity firm, says its partnership with Crown Paints had been a ‘significant success’.

‘The business has outperformed just about every key metric, which is an outstanding achievement given recent economic turmoil.’

Endless is a turnaround investor and currently has £300 million under management. It is investing Fund II of £164 million.