Ljubljana - DuluxGroup, an Australian paints group owned by Nippon Paint of Japan, has confirmed entering into a binding agreement to acquire Jub, a large Slovenian paints company, in a deal worth EUR 194.5 million. It plans to turn Jub into a hub for Central and Eastern Europe, preserve its existing brands, and make it part of Nippon Paint's R&D community.

"Under the auspices of DuluxGroup, Jub will enjoy autonomy and independent growth, while at the came time leveraging the advantages of access to a global market, technologies, capabilities and abundant capital resources of Nippon Paint Group," the company said in Friday's press release.

Patrick Houlihan, chairman and CEO of DuluxGroup, said that with the support of the world's fourth largest paint producer, Jub would continue to build its leading position on the regional market, strengthening its innovation, portfolio and geographical reach. It could also play an important role in the group's expansion to Western Europe.

In a separate release for investors, Nippon Paint said Jub commanded market leading positions in several paint segments in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, whereby the acquisition will allow it to better use its distribution network.

Nippon Group plans to "build a bridgehead" for decorative paints and external thermal insulation systems in Central and Eastern European Markets.

The transaction involves the purchase of 99.8% of Jub Group, which includes a vehicle owned by former and current managers and employees which owns Jub, and the actual company Jub.

Job posted group sales of EUR 111 million in 2020 and a profit of EUR 4 million.