The Carlyle Group sale closed on June 30, 2026 — a third major independent player now stands alongside AkzoNobel-Axalta and PPG.

On June 30, 2026, BASF finalized the sale of its automotive coatings division to private equity firm Carlyle Group, in partnership with the Qatar Investment Authority. The following day, July 1, the division became a fully independent entity under the name Surventis. The enterprise value of the transaction amounts to €7.7 billion, with approximately €5.8 billion in cash inflows before taxes for BASF. The German chemical group retains a 40% minority stake in the new company.

A new leadership team at the helm of Surventis

Surventis is led by Chief Executive Officer Jens Luehring, who brings approximately 20 years of experience in corporate transformation and mergers and acquisitions. Steve Arndt, former Global Distribution Sales Director at Axalta Coating Systems, takes charge of the Refinish Coatings division. Surventis manages a well-established portfolio of automotive coatings brands: Sikkens, Lesonal, Wanda, Glasurit, RM and Chemetall, with global sales of approximately €3.7 billion in 2025.

What it means for Canadian collision repairers

For shops affiliated with any of the Surventis brands in Canada, the transition should be transparent in the short term: contracts and supply chains remain unchanged. Over the longer term, Surventis will compete directly with the merged AkzoNobel-Axalta entity (shareholder vote scheduled for August 5, 2026) and with PPG. Canada’s automotive coatings landscape is now restructuring around three major independent players.