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Paint&pintura | Novembro 2013 | 11
those employees who lost family members, friends, homes
and cars. “Our staff needed to take some time off to think and
get their lives back on track. Of course, everybody didn’t come
back to work at the same time, but most of us were there to
help with the rebuild.”
After the gates were opened so people could go back to work,
the total built-up area destroyedwas estimated at 8,000 square
meters, including the company’s central building, which was
damaged beyond repair and had to be torn down, and all roo-
fs, which either fell down or were torn. Since many company
areas collapsed, there was nearly no room to work, and the
few facilities which survived had no roof or cover to provide
shelter from the sun and the rain. None of that mattered, as
production couldn’t stop.
To get back in business, the company had large tents set up,
covering an area of 1,000 square meters, where several teams
shared the space for a fewmonths. As employees did their jobs
under the tarp, rubble and debris were removed one bit at a
time. And production carried on despite the small, improvised
space. “We are extremely thankful to our customers who saw
their deliveries delayed for approximatelyoneweek, but unders-
tood what the reasons for the delay. Corob has a rather united
team, and that helped a lot in such difficult times,” Amadei said.
Amadei was there at the time of the earthquakes and reported
that a sense of fear has surrounded people since the accident.
“People keep askingme, ‘what’s it like being in an earthquake?’
But there’s never been anything quite like it in our lives, so it’s
hard to explain. The analogy I have figured out to try and des-
cribe what we saw has to do with the concept of home. Since
childhood, home is a safe place to go. When it’s raining or bad
things are happening out there, you run home. Now, when
an earthquake strikes, you run away from home. It’s a terrible
experience. It shakes you to your very core. That sense fades
awayover time, andworkhelps a lot, it’swhere you start picking
up where you left off,” he said.
Acquisitions - ArchromaAcquires Businesses from
Clariant
New era begins at Archroma upon SK Capital Partners’ acquisi-
tion of Clariant’s textile, paper and emulsion businesses
Archroma has announced its launch as a newly-formed global
color and specialty chemicals company that comprises the
Textile Specialties, Paper Solutions and Emulsion Products
businesses formerly owned by Clariant. Combined into a single
entity, Archroma will continue to deliver specialized per-
formance and color solutions to the coatings, adhesives,
textile, paper and construction industries. The three busi-
nesses were acquired by SK Capital Partners, a US-based
private investment firm with a disciplined focus on the
specialty materials, chemicals and healthcare sectors.
“The acquisition of Clariant’s businesses was closed to
the tune of 500 million dollars. The company has gone
private, and that makes it easier for us to seize business
opportunities. In addition, SKCapital Partners, as a private
investment firm, already owns businesses in the chemical
industry, which Archroma will now be joining because of
themany existingbusiness synergies among them. In fact,
Archroma is currently one of the world’s largest specialty
chemicals company in textiles, paper and emulsions,” says
Archroma’s Emulsion Products manager Pablo Cadavid.
The company’s product portfolio for the paint and coat-
ings industry, specifically, will remain unchanged for the
time being. “Be that as it may, some plans and strategies
have been outlinedwhichwill eventually be implemented
by Archroma for the introduction of new products in
Brazil, which products include new technologies, such
nano-technology and terpolymers (a chemistry from the
gas-phase process), as well as several additions to the
environmental line for eco-friendly and non-toxic paints
and coatings,” Cadavid reveals.
Investments - Restructuring and Investment
at Águia Química
Focusing on specialty chemicals, Águia Química has
doubled its capacity over the past five years, and restruc-
tured its organization for a broader geographic footprint
and better quality services.
To achieve the leading or a top-three position in the
compositemarket within two years, while keeping up its
performance in the coatings market, where it currently
stands as a leading supplier of alkyd resins (the founda-
tion of its work from the start) and specialty chemicals,
Águia Química has invested R$ 25 million in the past five
years to double its annual capacity from 2,500 to 5,000
tons. In addition, the company has restructured three
of its business units: Coatings, now headed by Agnaldo
Soares; and Composites and Distribution, which have
been taken over by Ismael Corazza. Both Soares and