Berger Paints: Working Capital Management

Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited (BPBL) is a renowned paint company in Bangladesh. The Company was introduced on 6 June 1973 as a private co. limited by shares registered under the Company Act. In December 2005, the company issued 5% shares to the public and listed with Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). BPBL previously was known by Jenson & Nicholson (J & N). The name of the company was changed from J& N (Bangladesh) Limited to Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited on January 1, 1980.

Currently BPBL’s number of shares is 23,188,940. Its Authorized capital is Taka 400 million and its paid up capital is Taka 232 million. Historical Overview Berger, the market leader in the Bangladesh paint market is one of the oldest names in the paint Industry and the country’s major specialty paints business with products and ingredients dating back more than 249 years to 1760. Louis Berger, a Germen national founded dye and pigment making business in England.

Louis Berger and sons grew rapidly with a strong reputation for innovation and entrepreneurship culminating in perfecting the process of making Prussian blue, a deep blue dye- a colour widely used for the uniforms of many European Armies. Production of dyes and pigments evolved into production of paints and coating, which till today, remains the core business of Berger. The company grew rapidly by establishing branches all over the world and through mergers and acquisitions with all other leading paint and coating manufacturing companies.

Berger has been involved in the paint business in this part of the world since 1950, when paints were first imported from Berger UK and subsequently from Berger Pakistan. In 1970, Berger paints Bangladesh limited (BPBL), erstwhile Jenson and Nicholson, had set up its paint factory in Chittagong at an estimated investment of TK 4 million. The share holders were Jenson & Nicholson (J & N), Duncan McNeil & Co. Limited and Dada Group. Duncan McNeil subsequently sold their shares to the majority shareholder J&N group. The Dada group share was ultimately vested with the overnment of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh after the independence of the country in 1971.

The name of the company was changed from J& N (Bangladesh) Limited to Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited on January 1, 1980. In August 2000, J& N Investment (Asia) Limited purchased Government shareholding. In December 2005, the company issued 5% shares to the public and listed with Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). With the entry of Berger paints into Bangladesh market, the country has been able to benefit from more than 249 years of global paint industry experience.

Over the decades, Berger has evolved to become the leading paint solutions provider in this country and has diversified into every sphere of the industry-from Decorative Paints to Industrial, Marine and Powder Coatings. Berger is one of the leading companies in the global paint industry. They offer all kind of painting solution in decorative, industrial or marine segment for both decorative and protective purpose. Berger paint started its sailing into the sea of Bangladesh from pre liberation era, to be precise in 1950. the main business flourished in the post liberation phase.