PPG will continue to mull bid for Akzo

A third offer was rebuffed on Monday

PPG on Wednesday stood by its $29 billion offer to buy Dutch paints maker AkzoNobel, calling it “vastly superior” to Akzo’s own strategy to remain independent and said it will continue to assess whetherto pursue a takeover bid.

The Downtown Pittsburgh coatings company said issues raised by Akzo on Monday when it rebuffed PPG’s third offer could be resolved if Akzo agreed to negotiate a deal.

Officials from both companies met over the weekend in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, but Akzo declined to formally engage in negotiations at that meeting.

Under Dutch law, PPG has until June 1 to launch a hostile takeover bid. Otherwise, it could walk away and approach the company again in six months.

“PPG remains willing to meet with AkzoNobel to engage in meaningful discussions, but without productive engagement, PPG will assess and decide whether or not to pursue an offer,” the companysaid in a statement.

By declining PPG’s overtures to address issues including antitrust concerns of a combined company, Akzo “has provided no transparency in concluding its standalone plan is superior to PPG’s proposal,” said Michael McGarry, PPG’s chairman and chief executive.

PPG’s third and latest offer to buy Akzo for 90 euros per share, submitted in April, would create the largest coatings maker in the world. That offer is about 50 percent higher than Akzo’s share price before PPG’s first bid

became public in March.

A group of Akzo’s largest shareholders has been pressuring the Dutch company to enterdiscussions with PPG.

On Tuesday, activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors, which holds a 3 percent stake in Akzo, took legal action in an attempt to remove Akzo’s chairman, Antony Burgmans.

Akzo, which makes Dulux, Sikkens and other paint brands, wants to raise shareholder value on its own by spinning out its chemicals segment and paying out extra dividends this year. It said Wednesday it remains “focused on the delivery of our own high growth, value creation strategy.”

In rejecting PPG’s latest offer, the Dutch company said the bid doesn’t adequately address issues such as the impact on jobs, employee pensions, and facility closures.