3M buys Bondo

3M has completed its acquisition of Bondo Corp., the Georgia-based manufacturer of autobody repair products. The two companies announced the proposed acquisition earlier in November.

Sources at Bondo say the acquisition will have little impact on Bondo's customers. "The purchase will not affect how we deal with our customers from a logistics standpoint," says Mark Cummings, Bondo's senior marketing manager. "Customers will still call us and order from us, right down the line. There won't be any changes."

While 3M already had a presence in the adhesive and body filler markets, acquiring Bondo's established brand will bolster the company's position in the autobody repair space. Bondo's product line includes body filler, fiberglass repair materials, undercoatings and adhesives.

“The addition of Bondo enhances our professional and retail auto body product lines,” says Ian Hardgrove, vice president and general manager, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division. “Together, 3M and Bondo will deliver a more complete product offering to auto body repair professionals, as well as auto enthusiasts and consumers around the world.”

Sources at 3M were not able to elaborate much on the impact of the acquisition because the deal was just finalized, but 3M public relations manager Lorin Robinson emphasized that the two companies would be able to deliver a wider variety of products to their customers, and that 3M's infrastructure and corporate capabilities would bolster the Bondo brand.

3M's Automotive Aftermarket Division products include abrasives and accessories, masking tapes, panel bonding adhesives, general adhesives coatings and sealers, paint finishing polishes and compounds, and paint application systems.

“3M’s global infrastructure, technology and product development expertise will further build and expand our well-known brands,” says Pat Formica, president, Bondo.

"3M currently sells fillers, but not to the level that we do," Cummings says. "We're really rounding out that category for them, and there's an incredible amount of knowledge about body fillers and glazes here at Bondo that they'll have access to."

In the meantime, Bondo is carrying on as usual, and has introduced Dynatron DynaMaxx, a new premium lightweight filler, which Cummings described as a "high performing filler available at a low price."

Earlier this month, 3M acquired Unifam Sp. z o.o., a Polish manufacturer of cut-off wheels and grinding wheels, as well as Standard Abrasives (a manufacturer of abrasive products for the metalworking industry) and Lingualcare (a Dallas-based orthodontic technology company). The company declared a dividend on the company's common stock of 48 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2007.