LONDON (dpa-AFX) – The paint and varnish manufacturer Akzo Nobel wants to merge with the former DuPont paint division Axalta. The merger of equals will create a group with annual sales of 17 billion US dollars and an enterprise value – including debts – of around 25 billion dollars (21.6 billion euros), the Dutch manufacturer of Dulux paints and the car paint specialist from the USA announced on Tuesday.
Axalta shareholders will receive 0.6539 Akzo Nobel shares per share. A special dividend will also flow to Akzo Nobel shareholders. After the merger is completed, they will own 55 percent of the new company.
Akzo Nobel is worth a good deal more on the stock market than the US company. The Dutch had a market capitalization of 9.7 billion euros at the close of trading on Monday; Axalta Coating Systems came in at the equivalent of around 5.2 billion euros.
The merger is expected to be completed in late 2026 or spring 2027. A special dividend is also planned for the shareholders of Akzo Nobel with a total of 2.5 billion euros, less the regular annual and interim dividends, which are to flow in 2026 before the transaction is completed.
The companies expect the merger to result in permanent annual cost savings of around $600 million. 90 percent of this is expected to be realized within the first three years after the merger is completed.
The two companies had already flirted with a merger in 2017, but were unable to agree on the terms. In spring 2025 there was speculation that Akzo Nobel was interested in the coatings division of the chemical company BASF. However, he sold his division in October to the US financial investor Carlyle (The Carlyle Group LP)./mis/stw/stk
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