AkzoNobel rejects €12.5bn offer from Nippon Paint, Sherwin-Williams

(Sharecast News) - Shares in AkzoNobel surged in Amsterdam on Wednesday after the board of the Dutch paint maker rejected a €12.5bn takeover proposal from Nippon Paint Holdings and Sherwin-Williams, continuing to recommend a proposed deal with US peer Axalta Coating Systems.

Japan's Nippon Paint Holdings and America's The Sherwin-Williams Company submitted a cash offer for the firm at the end of April, following an earlier rejected offer.

The new approach represented an offer price of €73 a share, a 39% premium to Tuesday's closing price.

The proposed deal involved Nippon Paint taking control of AkzoNobel's Decorative Paints and Industrial Coatings businesses, while AkzoNobel's Automotive & Specialty Coatings, Marine & Protective Coatings and Powder Coatings businesses would be sold separately to Sherwin-Williams.

AkzoNobel's board, however, concluded that the proposal did not qualify as a superior proposal to the planned merger with Axalta, first announced last November.

"The boards considered, amongst others and in no particular order, that the indicative offer price did not come close to adequately reflecting the value of AkzoNobel and its long-term prospects, taking into account the benefits of the recommended merger with Axalta," AkzoNovel said.

The company added that there wasn't enough certainty in relation to both the necessary regulatory clearances and the proposed split, and that the interests stakeholders were "not adequately safeguarded".

AKZA shares were up 17.4% at €61.68 by 1043 BST.