PPG to buy Mexican paints firm Comex

US coatings specialist PPG Industries has agreed to buy Mexican architectural and industrial coatings firm Comex for $2.3 billion (£1.3 billion). The deal will give PPG a manufacturing and distribution network for architectural paints across Mexico and Central America, where it currently has negligible presence.

Comex had previously agreed to sell its business to US paints giant Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin succeeded in buying out the US portion of Comex’s manufacturing and distribution network, but the deal later stalled after Mexican regulators objected on competition grounds.

PPG is in the process of expanding its coatings business, having just bought Pittsburgh, US-based competitor Masterwork Paint Company for an undisclosed sum.