AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - AkzoNobel has reached an agreement to supply coatings for the roof of Brazil's famous Maracanã Stadium, which will host a major soccer final in 2014. In addition, the company has secured a contract to paint the mezzanine of the Grêmio Arena located in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Financial details of the two contracts were not disclosed.

The Maracanã Stadium contract involves the supply of Interseal 670HS protective coatings, while both Interseal 670HS and Interfine 979 will be used at the Grêmio Arena. Both are supplied by AkzoNobel's Marine and Protective Coatings business.

Delivering coatings to high-profile sport stadiums is nothing new to AkzoNobel. Many of the venues in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Cup in South Africa - such as the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube, the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and Soccer City in Johannesburg - were coated using AkzoNobel products.

AkzoNobel currently employs over 2,800 people in Brazil, and its 2011 revenue totaled EUR 950 million. The majority of revenue is generated from local production. The company's ambition is to achieve revenue of EUR 1.5 billion in Brazil by 2015.