Akzo Nobel rebuffs €22.4bn takeover
US rival PPG’s bid spurned
AKZO Nobel spurned a sweetened, €22.4 billion (R304.88bn) takeover offer from PPG Industries, marking the second time that Europe’s largest coatings company has rebuffed an overture from its US competitor.
PPG is offering Akzo shareholders cash and stock valued at €88.72 a share, the Amsterdam-based company said yesterday.
The original bid valued the Dutch company at €83 a share at the end of February.
As with the initial bid, which Akzo rejected on March 9, the target said the latest offer was too low and not in the interests of shareholders and would lead to job losses.
The new proposal doesn’t warrant Akzo engaging in discussions with PPG, Akzo said.
“This proposal significantly fails to recognise the value of Akzo Nobel,” chief executive Ton Buechner said.
“Our boards do not believe it is in the best interest of Akzo Nobel’s stakeholders, including our shareholders, customers and employees. That is why we have rejected it unanimously.”
With the higher bid, Buechner will face growing pressure to negotiate with Pittsburgh-based PPG.
One of the Dutch company’s biggest long-term investors was urging Akzo to carefully evaluate any new offer, people familiar with the shareholder’s position said earlier, asking not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public.
Elliott Management, the hedge fund founded by billionaire Paul Singer, also was pushing Akzo to talk with PPG, people familiar with those talks said last week.
Akzo fell 2 percent to €75.06 at 9.09am in Amsterdam, after closing at a record on Tuesday.
In rejecting the original €20.9bn bid, Akzo said it plans to divest its speciality chemicals business, which accounts for one-third of revenue, to increase the focus on coatings. PPG’s proposals would lead to a company with too much debt, and the combination would require “substantial” divestitures to gain approval from antitrust regulators, Akzo said.
The company is pushing ahead with a breakup, Akzo said yesterday.
“We are convinced that Akzo Nobel is best placed to unlock the value within our company ourselves,” Buechner said yesterday.
“We are executing our plan, including the creation of two focused businesses and new cost structure, and believe this gives us a strong platform for continued profitability and long-term value creation for all our stakeholders with substantially less execution risks.”
Akzo will provide updated financial guidance and hold an investor briefing soon, the company said.
A combination of the world’s two largest coatings companies would attract intense antitrust scrutiny in Europe and the US. They have leading market shares of architectural paint in many European countries, with Akzo making brands such as Dulux and Hammerite and PPG producing Olympic and Pittsburgh brands.
The combination also would control more than half of the global aerospace-coatings market. Akzo has the No 1 market position in general-industrial coatings and protective and marine coatings, while PPG has the No 2 position in those markets, according to SunTrust analysts James Sheehan and Matthew Stevenson.
One of Buechner’s first major strategic decisions upon taking the helm in 2012 was to complete the sale to PPG of its US architectural paints business, including 600 company-owned stores and the Glidden brand, for about $1bn (R12.62bn).
PPG chief executive Michael McGarry is attempting the company’s largest ever deal just 18 months into the top job. As chief operating officer in 2014, McGarry spearheaded the company’s $2.3bn acquisition of Consorcio Comex, Mexico’s largest paintmaker.
Combinations between US and European companies have a history of cultural and political challenges.
PPG has met resistance to it proposed Akzo deal from the Dutch government.
Like many Dutch companies, Akzo has in place a stichting, or foundation, which owns priority shares and can be used to fend off hostile takeovers.
Until now, Akzo and PPG have stayed on the sidelines amid a spate of large deals in the paint and chemicals industries. – Bloomberg