Nikhil Adhesives is fundamentally a specialty-chemicals company built on a foundation inherited from a German multinational - it acquired the decades-old emulsion business of Hoechst Dyes and Chemicals in 2003, gaining products and customer relationships that stretch back to the 1960s. From that industrial base, the company has spent the years since systematically climbing the value chain: it now operates five plants with 135,000 tonnes of annual capacity, runs a dedicated R&D centre, and is pushing deliberately into branded consumer products where margins are higher. The recurring approach is to use its B2B manufacturing scale and long-standing relationships with giants like Asian Paints as a cash engine, then redeploy that know-how into import-substitute products and consumer brands it owns itself. # Business segments Three engines built in sequence - a specialty-emulsions workhorse inherited from a German multinational, a consumer-and-industrial adhesives platform now pushing its own brands, and a construction-chemicals bet anchored by India's largest import-substitute powder plant - with a shrinking trading sidecar. ## 1. Specialty emulsions: the industrial workhorse that feeds the rest **Water-based polymer emulsions sold to paint and textile factories generate nearly half the company's volume and carry customer relationships dating back to the 1960s.** - **Supplies the giants of Indian paint** - paint emulsions under the Emdilith and Emdicryl brands made up 35% of total volume in FY25, and the customer list includes Asian Paints, Berger, Akzo Nobel, BASF, JSW, Indigo, and DOW, with most volume going direct to large corporates rather than through distributors. - **A textile-binder network built distributor by distributor** - textile emulsions and binders (Emditex and Emdibind) contributed 12% of total volume in FY25, and the company expanded this business by adding new printing-binder products and widening its PAN-India distributor network, which added 2,600 metric tonnes of volume. - **The portfolio is broad and water-based** - 71-plus emulsion products that are environment-friendly and customisable, giving the company a wide surface area to serve different factory needs from one manufacturing backbone. - **The lineage is a competitive inheritance** - the entire emulsions business was acquired in 2003 from Mafatlal Dyes & Chemicals, the former Indian operation of Germany's Hoechst, meaning the product range and customer ties were not built from scratch but inherited from a multinational that had operated in India since the 1960s. ## 2. Adhesives: the consumer-brand engine with an industrial tail **Wood adhesives trusted by more than 80,000 contractors sit alongside packaging-adhesive supply and contract manufacturing for Asian Paints - together 28% of volume, with the branded consumer portion growing faster and earning higher margins.** - **Mahacol is the flagship consumer brand** - developed with German technology and positioned as one of India's oldest wood adhesives, it anchors a consumer portfolio that also includes masking tapes and stationery adhesives, and the B2C business overall grew 20% year-on-year in FY25 to reach 20% of total revenue. - **Contract manufacturing locks in a key relationship** - the company makes various grades of construction chemicals and adhesives for Asian Paints on a conversion basis at its Tumkur plant under a long-term agreement, turning a customer into a production partner. - **Industrial adhesives serve the packaging line** - contributing 9% of total volume in FY25, this part of the business supplies 42-plus products for packaging, tapes, automotive, and electronics, where the value proposition is better bonding with less manufacturing complexity. - **The stated strategy is to build space in consumer products** - management has repeated this intention across multiple years, and the B2C portfolio's higher margins (driven by premium products and consumer spending) explain why a company rooted in industrial supply keeps pushing toward branded retail. ## 3. Construction chemicals: the import-substitute bet under its own brand **Built on India's largest Re-Dispersible Polymer Powder plant - a 12,000-tonne-per-year facility making a product the country previously imported - and now being pushed into the market under the Mahafix brand through a fast-growing distributor network.** - **Mahacol RDP is the cornerstone** - the Dahej plant makes a spray-dried polymer powder that improves the strength and bonding of dry-mix mortars, using proprietary technology developed in-house, and the company is the largest producer of this 100% import-substitute product in India with limited competition. - **The product has been endorsed by the industry leader** - Asian Paints and other major corporates have approved the RDP, which acts as a signal to the broader market that the quality meets the standards of the country's most demanding paint and chemicals buyer. - **Mahafix is the new consumer-facing brand** - launched as a B2C division in FY25, it already spans 36-plus products (waterproofing, tile adhesives, sealants, grouts, and repair chemicals) and signed over 160 distributors within its first 10 months, with a target of roughly 350 by the end of the following year. - **The construction-chemicals segment is already a volume heavyweight** - it contributed 23% of total volume sales in FY25, and the India market is fragmented (the top five players occupy 18.71%), leaving room for a domestic manufacturer with its own raw-material plant to gain share. - **Leadership was hired from BASF and Asian Paints** - the Chief Operating Officer appointed in early 2025 holds a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry and spent 18 years at BASF across three countries, while a new independent director brought 30 years at Asian Paints and a stint as CMO of JSW Paints, signalling the seriousness of the consumer push. # Group structure and partners **A single listed company controlled by the Sanghavi family with no subsidiaries - and a web of long-term ties to Asian Paints that runs through multiple business lines.** - **Promoters hold a majority stake** - the Sanghavi family collectively owned 61.57% of the share capital as of September 2024, with the Executive Chairman and his two brothers serving as whole-time directors, and inter-se family share transfers in FY24 and FY25 reshuffled holdings without changing overall promoter control. - **Asian Paints is the thread connecting multiple engines** - it is a customer for paint emulsions, a contract-manufacturing partner at the Tumkur plant, a buyer of stationery adhesives, and the first major corporate to approve the Mahacol RDP product, making the relationship far deeper than a typical supplier tie. - **No subsidiaries, no joint ventures** - the company operates as a single entity listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, with all five manufacturing units, the R&D centre, and 21-plus depots held directly on its own balance sheet.