Freeworld Plascon (z) Ltd

The history of the Plascon brand stretches back more than a century to 1889, when an enterprising young Welshman named Herbert Evans arrived in Johannesburg and began producing floor polish, carriage varnish, and ready-mixed tinted paints – a first for the country.

In the ensuing years, Herbert Evans & Co. expanded rapidly, developing a reputation for innovation, quality, and customer service. Attributes that could not have been lost on Solly Rudner, who was building a similar reputation with Chrome Chemicals, a company that manufactured, amongst other things, Plascon Paint.

The Plascon brand became so popular that it spawned a new company, Plascon Paints and Chemical Industries, in 1945. By 1969, under Rudner's management, Plascon had become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barsab, the mining services group co-owned by SAB (South African Breweries Ltd.) and Thomas Barlow & Sons Ltd. (later Barlow Rand).

In 1970, Plascon Paints and Chemical Industries merged with Herbert Evans & Co to form Plascon Evans.

Today, Plascon continues to drive innovation and excellence in the retail, trade, industrial and furniture coatings markets in South and Southern Africa from three strategically placed manufacturing sites in Mobeni, KwaZulu-Natal; Luiperdsvlei in Krugersdorp; and Epping in Cape Town.

In 2012, the company formerly known as Plascon South Africa was renamed Kansai Plascon, after a merger with Japanese company Kansai Paint, the world's sixth largest coatings company. Kansai Plascon continues to champion the Plascon brand as it expands into Africa as the continent's number one coatings company.