Compañía Global de Pinturas to buy H.B. Fuller’s paint unit

Manufacturer H.B. Fuller will sell its paints unit, which is based in Central America, to a Colombia-based company in order to focus on its adhesives business.

The company announced Monday that it will sell its Central America paint business to Companía Global de Pinturas for $120 million. The deal is expected to close within 60 days, a spokesman for H.B. Fuller said.

The company’s paints unit generated $113.5 million in in revenue in 2011, about 7 percent of H.B. Fuller’s total revenue. The unit employs about 800 workers at production plants and laboratories in Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama.

The buyer is a paints company that operates in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama and the Caribbean. Its parent company, Grupo Mundial, operates 53 companies in 12 countries and generated sales totaling $1.07 billion in 2011.