Stahl Holdings Overview
Stahl is a Dutch-headquartered formulator of speciality coatings for flexible materials — leather, synthetic leather and textiles, and paper/film packaging and labels. Its products are largely invisible to consumers but determine how a car seat, handbag, shoe upper or premium package looks, feels and wears. After two decades of private-equity ownership under Wendel, the company completed a multi-year pivot from a broad leather-chemicals supplier into a pure-play coatings formulator: it bought Clariant's and BASF's leather businesses (2013–2017), added packaging coatings through ICP Industrial Solutions Group (2023) and WEILBURGER Graphics (2024), and then carved out its wet-end leather chemicals into Muno (effective 1 January 2026). The resulting business, roughly €725m of 2025 adjusted sales with an asset-light, service-intensive model and a majority of revenue from water-based technologies, was acquired by Henkel for an enterprise value of €2.1bn and closed on 1 October 2026, giving Henkel's adhesives unit an adjacent coatings platform.
What the company does
Stahl develops, formulates, manufactures and applies coatings and surface treatments for flexible substrates. Its own description (stahl.com, 2026) positions it as the provider of speciality coatings behind everyday materials in automotive, apparel, luxury goods, footwear, packaging and home furnishings, organised in three business lines: Performance Coatings, Leather Finishing and Packaging Coatings (PCI Magazine, June 2026, citing Stahl). Henkel's description of the acquired portfolio is identical in substance: leather finishing coatings, performance coatings, and high-performance paper packaging and graphics coatings (Henkel release, 4 Feb 2026).
Value-chain position
Stahl sits between bulk raw-material suppliers (petrochemical and polymer producers) and converters — tanneries, synthetic-leather and coated-textile manufacturers, printers and packaging converters. Crucially, demand is often prescribed by end brands (automotive OEMs, luxury houses, sportswear and consumer packaged goods companies), who specify finishes that converters must then buy. Wendel's December 2024 investor-day deck explicitly framed premium brands as "prescribers" for Stahl's direct customers. This prescriber dynamic is a key source of switching costs.
Customer types and end markets
End markets named consistently: automotive/mobility, fashion and lifestyle, luxury, footwear, packaging, home furnishings (Wendel company page; Henkel releases).
Independent characterisation
Stahl is best understood as a niche formulation franchise with three distinct demand engines: (1) leather finishing, a mature but highly concentrated niche where Stahl is the global leader and earns premium pricing through regulatory compliance and technical service; (2) performance coatings for synthetic and textile substrates, which benefits from substitution toward synthetic materials and solvent-free PU technology; and (3) packaging coatings, the newest and most acquisition-built engine, levered to plastic-to-paper substitution. Its earnings were historically resilient (EBITDA margins of roughly 21–23% through 2022–2023 on Wendel's figures), but volumes are cyclical and tied to automotive and luxury production, as the 2023 and 2025 slowdowns demonstrated.
Strategy
Stated strategy themes
Pure-play speciality coatings for flexible materials: The CEO described the multi-year shift toward premium coatings as deliberate, with the wet-end exit completing it (Wendel PR, Nov 2024; Stahl PR, Feb 2026).
Customer intimacy and prescriber relationships: with premium brands (Wendel deck, Dec 2024; Henkel and Stahl joint messaging, Feb 2026).
Sustainable, water-based technology: as a growth driver, with an ESG Roadmap to 2030 and interim 2026 goals.
- Growth regions, particularly Asia (Singapore PUD plant).
Selective acquisitions: in speciality coatings, especially packaging (ISG, WEILBURGER, Weilburger Brazil).
- Corporate purpose: "Touching lives, for a better world."
Medium-term targets
Stahl did not publish financial guidance. Wendel's Dec 2024 deck characterised New Stahl as a c.23% EBITDA-margin business pivoting toward faster organic growth, without quantified targets in retrieved text. Henkel has not disclosed Stahl-specific synergy or margin targets in sources retrieved; it highlighted cross-selling across coatings, adhesives and packaging and stated that, together with ATP Adhesive Systems (and, per later reports, Wetherby Laroc), its 2026 Adhesive Technologies deals add about €1bn of sales.
Products & Services
Stahl does not publish prices or a product list with launch dates. The catalog below includes only named offerings verified in public sources; generic descriptions are used where brand names could not be confirmed.
Services
Technical application laboratories, colour and effect development, on-site technical support and "Stahl Campus" training/collaboration facilities (Wendel's Dec 2024 deck referenced four Stahl Campus facilities near customers).
Product Portfolio
| Offering | Description | Target customer | Year / status | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Leather finishing systems (base and topcoats, binders, effects) | Water-based and solvent-borne finishing chemistry that sets colour, gloss, touch, abrasion and lightfastness performance | Automotive, luxury, footwear and upholstery tanneries | Core legacy line; 94% of Leather Finishing revenue met ZDHC MRSL Level 3 as of Dec 2024 | Not disclosed |
ZDHC-compliant portfolio | About 2,200 products at ZDHC Gateway (MRSL 3.1) Level 3 as of Dec 2024 | Brand-audited supply chains | 2024 | Not disclosed |
LCA / PCF-documented products | 377 products with life-cycle assessment or product carbon footprint data (2024) | Brands with Scope 3 targets | 2024 | Not disclosed |
Automotive Center of Excellence (service) | Application and development centre for automotive surfaces in Waalwijk | Automotive OEMs and tier suppliers | — | Bundled service |
| Offering | Description | Target customer | Year / status | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Polyurethane dispersions (PUD) | Water-based PU binders that replace solvent systems; now produced in Singapore for Asia-Pacific in addition to Europe | Synthetic leather, coated textiles, regional formulators | Singapore plant opened Oct 2024 | Not disclosed |
Water-based, DMF-free coagulation technology | Next-generation fully water-based route to producing PU substrates without DMF solvent (promoted on stahl.com, 2026) | Synthetic leather producers facing DMF restrictions | — | Not disclosed |
Permuthane (heritage brand) | PU coatings franchise highlighted at the 2006 acquisition as a growth vector | Coated fabric makers | — | Not disclosed |
Eagle Performance Products (heritage) | Acquired 2016; specific product lines not detailed publicly | North American coatings customers | 2016 | Not disclosed |
| Offering | Description | Target customer | Year / status | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Repura | Barrier-coatings portfolio for paper-based packaging, positioned as giving high barrier performance without compromise | Converters moving from plastic to paper | Launched May 2026 (Interpack) | Not disclosed |
Nicoat | Former ISG brand: aqueous and energy-curable coatings for graphic arts/printing | Commercial and packaging printers | Acquired Mar 2023 | Not disclosed |
MinusNine | Former ISG brand (MinusNine Technologies), energy-cured coatings | Printers and converters | Acquired Mar 2023 | Not disclosed |
Hi-Tech Coatings | ISG's European brand, with operations in the Netherlands, UK and Germany | European graphic-arts market | Acquired Mar 2023 | Not disclosed |
Sensora | Sensory/tactile coatings portfolio for packaging and printed surfaces | Premium packaging brands | Promoted 2023 (Labelexpo) | Not disclosed |
WEILBURGER Graphics portfolio | Varnishes, coatings and adhesives for graphic arts; integrated with Stahl Packaging Coatings (Nuremberg sales team) and in Turkey as Stahl Kimya | Packaging printers in Europe and Turkey | Acquired 2024; Turkey integrated Dec 2025 | Not disclosed |
Weilburger Coatings Brazil graphics business | Graphics coatings portfolio to be insourced to Stahl's Brazilian site during 2026 | Latin American packaging converters | Agreement Jun 2026 | Not disclosed |
Financial Narrative
Basis: Wendel economic presentation of Stahl at 100% (Wendel fully consolidated Stahl). Figures for FY2021–FY2024 are Old Stahl (including wet-end). FY2025 figures are New Stahl adjusted sales (Henkel) and Wendel's net income from operations contribution. Blank = not publicly disclosed.
Income statement
Notes and sources:
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FY2021 sales/organic: Wendel FY2021 release (2020 sales €669.4m). FY2022 sales €914.9m as the comparative in Wendel's FY2023 release; organic growth +6.3% and EBITDA margin 21.2% from Wendel's FY2022 deck. FY2022 EBITDA of 194.0 is derived (21.2% × 914.9); Wendel separately disclosed EBITDA excluding IFRS 16 of €191.1m.
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FY2023 EBITDA €204m and 22.3% margin: Wendel AGM presentation, May 2024.
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FY2024: sales €930.2m (+1.8%), adjusted operating income €181m and 19.5% margin (Wendel PR, 4 Feb 2026). AWP reported 2024 EBITDA of "slightly more than €200m" — left blank because no precise figure was published in sources retrieved.
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Net income from operations (before goodwill allocation and non-recurring items): Wendel FY2021, FY2023 and FY2025 releases; FY2020 comparative was €78.3m. FY2025's €69.6m was down 30.5% year on year; Wendel attributed weaker Stahl results as one reason for the decline in its portfolio contribution.
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EPS and dividends per share are not applicable to a private company.
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Revenue CAGR (total Stahl): FY2020–FY2024 c.8.6%; FY2021–FY2024 c.3.8% (derived).
Commentary. The five-year record shows three phases. FY2021 was a sharp post-COVID rebound (+25.4% organic) with H1 2021 EBITDA margins of 26.0%, flattered by volume recovery before raw-material inflation hit in H2 2021. FY2022 delivered moderate organic growth (+6.3%) helped by FX (+3.8%) and pricing, with margins normalising to 21.2%. FY2023 was a volume recession: organic sales fell 8.3% as leather and coatings demand weakened and customers destocked, but ISG (€89.1m contribution) held reported sales flat and pricing discipline lifted EBITDA margin to 22.3% — evidence of genuine pricing power. FY2024 saw a weak return to growth (Q1 2024 organic +0.5% on +3.4% volume), while net income from operations rose 11%. FY2025 was weak: Q1 2025 organic sales fell 5.4%, and Wendel cited an unstable tariff environment that created customer uncertainty and hurt leather volumes in particular (Wendel Q3 2025 commentary, reported by Boursorama). New Stahl adjusted sales of c.€725m in 2025 compare with a €759m 2024 pro forma figure — an implied decline of about 4.5%, although perimeter differences make this approximate.
Balance sheet
Sources: Wendel FY2022 deck (net debt/EBITDA 0.4x at end-2022 vs 0.8x at end-2021); Wendel PR 18 Nov 2024 (pro forma 2023 net debt €336m for New Stahl). The 2023 ISG deal was financed by a $580m facility maturing 2028 (Coatings World, Feb 2023). Implied pro forma 2023 leverage of New Stahl ≈ 1.8x (336/182, derived).
Commentary. Stahl ran conservative leverage for a sponsor-owned company and repeatedly recapitalised to return cash: c.€260m to Wendel around the Clariant merger and refinancing, an €85m dividend in 2023, and €427m cumulative past proceeds to Wendel over 20 years. The gap between the €2.1bn EV and Wendel's c.€1.2bn net proceeds on 68.5% ownership is consistent with net debt and transaction costs being deducted, but Stahl's net debt at closing was not separately disclosed.
Cash flow
Source for 2023 dividend: Wendel AGM presentation, May 2024. Wendel earlier described Stahl's free-cash-flow conversion (adjusted FCF / adjusted EBITDA) as high in its refinancing release; the percentage was not captured in sources retrieved.
Ratios
All ratios other than leverage are not publicly disclosed.
Financial Detail
Business Lines
| Business line | What it contains | Products / technologies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
Leather Finishing | Finishing chemicals applied after tanning: basecoats, topcoats, effects, binders, auxiliaries for automotive, luxury, footwear and upholstery leather | Water-based PU and acrylic binders, finishing systems, effect coatings | stahl.com; Henkel Feb 2026 |
Performance Coatings | Coatings and polymers for synthetic leather, coated textiles and other flexible substrates; polymer dispersions | PU dispersions (PUD), PU coatings (Permuthane heritage), water-based DMF-free coagulation technology for PU substrates | stahl.com; Stahl Singapore release |
Packaging Coatings | Functional and decorative coatings for paper, board, labels and flexible packaging; graphic-arts coatings | Barrier coatings (Repura), overprint varnishes, water-based and energy-cured (UV/LED/EB) coatings, sensory coatings (Sensora); brands Nicoat, MinusNine, Hi-Tech Coatings, WEILBURGER Graphics heritage | ICP ISG releases; Grace Matthews; Stahl LinkedIn |
Wet-End (discontinued; now Muno) | Tanning, retanning, fatliquoring and dyeing chemicals | Carved out effective 1 Jan 2026; excluded from Henkel deal | Wendel PR, Feb 2026 |
Revenue by Segment
| Perimeter (EUR Mn) | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Stahl sales incl. wet-end | 831.3 | 914.9 | 913.5 | 930.2 | — |
New Stahl (coatings) sales, pro forma / adjusted | — | — | 786 | 759 | 725 |
Implied wet-end sales (total minus New Stahl) | — | — | — | 171.2 | — |
Results by Segment and Segment Margins & Growth (%)
| Metric (EUR Mn) | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Stahl EBITDA, pro forma | — | — | 182 | — | — |
New Stahl EBITDA margin % | — | — | 23.1 | — | — |
Income Statement and Margin Analysis (%)
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Revenue, total Stahl (EUR Mn) | 831.3 | 914.9 | 913.5 | 930.2 | — |
Revenue, New Stahl adjusted (EUR Mn) | — | — | 786 | 759 | 725 |
Total revenue growth (%) | 24.2 | 10.1 | -0.2 | 1.8 | — |
Organic revenue growth (%) | 25.4 | 6.3 | -8.3 | — | — |
EBITDA incl. IFRS 16 (EUR Mn) | — | 194.0 | 204 | — | — |
EBITDA margin (%) | — | 21.2 | 22.3 | — | — |
Adjusted operating income (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | 181 | — |
Adjusted operating margin (%) | — | — | — | 19.5 | — |
Net income from operations, Wendel economic basis (EUR Mn) | 113.9 | 118.3 | 90.3 | 100.2 | 69.6 |
Gross profit (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Pre-tax income (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Net income, statutory (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
EPS / DPS | — | — | — | — | — |
Key Financials and Financial Ratios (x)
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total assets (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Cash and equivalents (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Total debt (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Net debt, New Stahl pro forma (EUR Mn) | — | — | 336 | — | — |
Net debt / EBITDA (x) | 0.8 | 0.4 | — | — | — |
Equity (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Goodwill and intangibles (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Working capital (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Dividends & Capital Returns
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operating cash flow (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Capex (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Free cash flow (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Dividends paid to Wendel (EUR Mn) | — | — | 85 | — | — |
Buybacks (EUR Mn) | — | — | — | — | — |
Financial Ratios (x)
| Ratio | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ROE (%) | — | — | — | — | — |
ROA (%) | — | — | — | — | — |
ROIC (%) | — | — | — | — | — |
Current ratio (x) | — | — | — | — | — |
Debt / equity (x) | — | — | — | — | — |
Net debt / EBITDA (x) | 0.8 | 0.4 | — | — | — |
Interest coverage (x) | — | — | — | — | — |
Asset turnover (x) | — | — | — | — | — |
Cash conversion cycle (days) | — | — | — | — | — |
Sales by Period
| Period | Sales (EUR Mn) | Total growth | Organic growth | Other | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1 2021 | 419.8 | +32.5% | +36.4% | EBITDA margin 26.0% | Wendel H1 2021 |
H1 2023 | 443 | -5.9% | — | EBITDA margin 20.8%; ISG +8.4% | Wendel H1 2023 report |
Q3 2023 | 234.3 | +3.9% | -3.4% | — | Wendel Q3 2023 |
9M 2023 | 677.3 | -2.7% | -10.8% | FX -1.0% | Wendel Q3 2023 |
Q1 2024 | 225.6 | +9.8% | +0.5% | Organic volume +3.4% | Wendel Q1 2024 |
Q1 2025 | 231.0 | +2.4% | -5.4% | Includes wet-end | Wendel Q1 2025 deck |
Geographic Revenue
| Region (EUR Mn) | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
Americas | — | — | — |
EMEA | — | — | — |
Asia-Pacific | — | — | — |
Valuation Snapshot
| Metric | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Enterprise value | €2.1bn | Henkel / Wendel, Feb 2026 |
EV / 2025 adjusted sales | c.2.9x | Derived: 2,100 / 725 |
EV / 2023 PF EBITDA | c.11.5x | Derived: 2,100 / 182 (illustrative only; stale base year) |
EV / 2025 EBITDA | Not computable | 2025 EBITDA not disclosed |
Wendel net proceeds | c.€1.2bn | Wendel |
Wendel multiple / IRR | 6.6x net; >15% annualised over 20 years | Wendel |
Premium to Wendel NAV mark |
| Wendel |
Margin Analysis (%)
| Metric (EUR Mn) | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stahl value in Wendel NAV (Wendel share) | — | — | — | — | — |
Stahl net income from operations (100%) | 113.9 | 118.3 | 90.3 | 100.2 | 69.6 |
Analyst Conclusions
Guidance
No standalone Stahl guidance exists. Henkel has not published Stahl-specific targets; it presents Stahl as a growth platform within Adhesive Technologies. Consensus estimates for Stahl do not exist; the effect will appear inside Henkel's Adhesive Technologies reporting from Q4 2026.
Bull case
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Margin quality: New Stahl's c.23% pro forma EBITDA margin (2023) is well above typical speciality-chemical levels (Altana 17.0% in 2025), and pricing held in the 2023 volume recession.
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Revenue synergies: Henkel's customer access in packaging and automotive can accelerate Repura and coatings-plus-adhesives bundles.
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Regulatory tailwinds: solvent/DMF restrictions and plastic-reduction rules favour Stahl's water-based and barrier portfolio.
Bear case
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Earnings momentum is negative: 2025 net income from operations fell 30.5%; adjusted sales declined to c.€725m.
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Cyclical end markets: auto and luxury weakness plus tariffs hit leather volumes, and there is little evidence of a 2026 recovery in public data.
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Full price: c.2.9x 2025 sales for a business with recent negative organic growth leaves Henkel reliant on synergies and recovery.
Catalysts and monitorables (next 12 months)
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Henkel Q3 2026 and FY2026 reporting: first disclosure of Stahl's contribution, purchase-price allocation and any synergy targets.
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Integration announcements (leadership, brand strategy, site rationalisation).
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Completion of the Brazil graphics-coatings insourcing.
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Repura commercial traction in paper packaging.
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Automotive production and luxury demand trends; tariff developments.
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Muno's trajectory under Wendel (affects former shared customers).
Analyst verdict
Stahl's twenty-year arc under Wendel is a textbook example of sponsor-led portfolio transformation. A €307m leather-chemicals supplier bought for €520m in 2006 was rebuilt through consolidation of Clariant's and BASF's leather assets, recapitalised repeatedly, and then deliberately reshaped into a coatings pure-play by adding packaging capabilities and shedding the lower-margin, more commoditised wet-end business. The exit at €2.1bn — over 20% above Wendel's own September 2025 mark and yielding a 6.6x multiple — validates that strategy.
The operating picture, however, is more nuanced than the exit price suggests. On the limited data available, Stahl's volumes have been weak for most of the period since 2022: organic sales fell 8.3% in 2023, recovered only marginally in 2024, and declined again in 2025, when tariffs and soft automotive and luxury demand weighed on leather. Wendel's economic earnings from Stahl fell by almost a third in 2025. What sustained value was margin resilience and pricing power, not growth.
For Henkel, the logic is strategic rather than cyclical. Stahl gives Adhesive Technologies an asset-light, service-intensive adjacency with strong ESG credentials (five consecutive EcoVadis Platinum ratings, majority water-based revenue) and immediate relevance to Henkel's packaging and automotive customers. The bet is that Henkel's commercial reach can convert Stahl's technical leadership — particularly in water-based PU and paper barrier coatings — into growth that Stahl struggled to generate alone in a weak market.
The principal uncertainty is transparency: Stahl's 2025 EBITDA, segment economics and synergy targets remain undisclosed. Until Henkel reports Stahl's contribution, investors should treat Stahl as a high-quality, margin-rich niche franchise acquired at a full but defensible price, whose value creation now depends on end-market recovery and integration execution rather than on further financial engineering.
SOURCES (primary and secondary, as used)
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Henkel AG & Co. KGaA — ad hoc disclosure and press release, 4 Feb 2026 (henkel.com; EQS via gettex.de)
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Henkel — closing announcement, 2 Oct 2026 (webwire.com; chemanager-online.com; indianchemicalnews.com; optionfinance.fr)
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Wendel SE — press release "Agreement to sell Stahl ... to Henkel", 4 Feb 2026 (trivano.com / GlobeNewswire)
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Wendel SE — 2025 Full-Year Results, 26 Feb 2026 (globenewswire.com)
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Wendel SE — 2023 Full-Year Results, 28 Feb 2024; 2021 Full-Year Results, 18 Mar 2022; H1 2021 trading update; H1 2023 half-year report; Q3 2023 and Q1 2024 trading updates; Q1 2025 presentation; FY2022 results deck; AGM presentation May 2024; Investor Day decks 2021 and Dec 2024 (wendelgroup.com; AMF filings via echanges.dila.gouv.fr)
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Wendel SE — wet-end divestment release, 18 Nov 2024; WEILBURGER Graphics release, 29 Aug 2024; Stahl refinancing release (wendelgroup.com)
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Wendel H1 2026 summary (quartr.com)
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Stahl — press releases on Henkel deal (Feb 2026), ISG completion (Mar 2023), Singapore PUD plant (Oct 2024), EcoVadis (Sep 2024, Jul 2025), 2024 ESG Report (Apr 2025), Stahl Kimya (Dec 2025), homepage news (2026) (stahl.com)
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leathermag.com (2006 acquisition; 2024 EcoVadis); leatherbiz.com (2024/2025 results; EcoVadis 2026; Singapore)
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La Conceria (Henkel talks; Syntagma termination; Muno); Leaders League (Muno description)
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Reuters via Boursorama and TradingSat; Agefi-Dow Jones via ABC Bourse; AWP via allnews.ch; ANP via welingelichtekringen.nl
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PCI Magazine (Brazil acquisition; 2026 Global Top 10; archive items); Coatings World; Grace Matthews; Manufacturing Chemist; APLF; SpecialChem; ChemXplore
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ALTANA AG — FY2025 annual results release, 20 Mar 2026
Executive Leadership
Executive Leadership Team
| Name | Title | Tenure | Background | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Maarten Heijbroek | Chief Executive Officer | Since 1 Jul 2021 | Previously c.10 years at Croda International, including its executive committee | Not publicly disclosed |
Laura Willemsen | Group Director Sustainability and Marketing | Named in 2024–2026 releases | — | Not publicly disclosed |
Raymond Bakker | Business Director Packaging Coatings, EMEA | Named Dec 2025 | — | Not publicly disclosed |
Dennis Koh | Site and Operations Manager, Stahl Singapore | Named Oct 2024 | — | Not publicly disclosed |
Frank Policky | CEO (historical) | At 2006 acquisition | — | — |
Major Shareholders
| Shareholder | Stake at exit (Feb 2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Wendel SE | 68.5% | Investor since 2006; total equity invested c.€225m (to end-2024); c.€1.2bn expected net proceeds; 6.6x multiple; IRR >15% |
BASF SE | 16.1% | From 2017 leather chemicals deal |
Clariant AG | 14.6% | From 2013 Leather Services deal; stake reportedly reduced from 19.7% to 14.8% around the start of 2026 (AWP) |
Other minorities (management) | Remainder | — |
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA | 100% from 1 Oct 2026 | — |
Competitive Landscape
Competitors by Segment
| Business line | Named competitors | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Leather Finishing | TFL Ledertechnik (which acquired Lanxess's leather chemicals business in 2022); Silvateam; Smit & zoon; regional Asian (Chinese, Indian) formulators; Muno (wet-end, adjacent rather than overlapping) | Stahl self-describes as global leader; market shares not disclosed |
Performance Coatings (synthetics, textiles, PUD) | Covestro (PU dispersions); Lubrizol; Archroma (textile effects, incl. former Huntsman Textile Effects); BASF dispersions; Chinese PU/synthetic-leather chemical suppliers | Overlap varies by application |
Packaging Coatings | ACTEGA (Altana); Siegwerk; Sun Chemical (DIC); Michelman; hubergroup; Flint Group | Highly fragmented market |
Peer Comparison FY2025
| Company | FY2025 revenue (EUR Mn) | Growth | EBITDA margin (%) | R&D intensity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stahl (New Stahl, adjusted) | 725 | c.-4.5% vs 2024 PF (derived, approximate) | 23.1 (2023 PF; 2025 n.d.) | — | Henkel; Wendel |
ACTEGA (Altana division) | 505 | -1% operating | n.d. at division level | n.d. at division level | Altana FY2025 release |
Altana group (incl. ACTEGA) |
| operating growth | 17.0 | c.7% (R&D €216m) | Altana FY2025 release |
Henkel group (acquirer, context) | 21,600 (FY2024) | — | — | — | Henkel release |
Recent Developments
Fewer than 25 strictly material events were publicly reported for a private company over this period; the table lists all identified.
