Hempel Group 3.23

Hempel A/S is a world leading coatings supplier to the decorative, protective, marine, container, industrial and yacht markets, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company employs more than 5,500 people in over 80 countries, and has factories and R&D centres around the globe.It produces award winning coatings, such as Hempaguard and Hempadur Avantguard, and owns a number of brands, including Crown Paints, Versiline and Neogard. Hempel is owned by the Hempel Foundation, which supports cultural, humanitarian and scientific causes across the world.HistoryHempel was founded by Jørgen Christian Hempel in July 1915 when he established Hempel’s Marine Paints Ltd., a marine paint wholesaler. At just 21 years of age, he was Denmark’s youngest licensed wholesaler at the time. The following year he set up his own paint mixing factory. In 1917, Hempel collaborated with the Technical University of Denmark to develop Hempel’s first antifouling coating for ships’ hulls.During the 1950s and 1960s Hempel expanded around the globe. It established its first factory in the United States in 1951, and opened an office in Hong Kong in 1963. In the 1960s, the company began to produce decorative coatings for the Middle Easte and it opened its first factory in the region, in Kuwait, in 1966.In the 1970s, Hempel established a Protective coatings division to develop and produce coatings for the industrial market, such as power generation and infrastructure. Hempel was one of the first coatings companies to focus on renewable energies and it supplied coatings to the first commercial wind farm in 1980.J.C. Hempel died in 1986, 91 years of age, having led the company for 71 years. By 2000, Hempel had become a widespread Group with local management in 38 countries. During the following decade it consolidated, buying out its partners in Croatia, China, Morocco and the Middle East.antifouling coating for ships’ hulls.