3,300 jobs at risk as US giant makes £19bn bid for Dulux
THE future of thousands of british jobs has been thrown into doubt after an American chemicals giant launched a £19bn bid for the manufacturer of Polyfilla and dulux.
US chemicals giant PPG, which makes decorative paints and coatings, has made a second offer for dutch paint producer Akzo Nobel – owner of former UK industrial powerhouse ICI – valuing it at £19.4bn. it comes three weeks after its initial £18.1bn bid for the firm.
but Akzo rejected the bid claiming it significantly undervalued its business.
However, it is now facing mounting pressure from shareholders to reconsider – throwing the future of 3,300 UK jobs into doubt once again.
Activist hedge fund elliott Advisors, which has a 3pc stake in Akzo and is one of its top five investors, said it was ‘concerned’ the firm had failed to engage with PPG’s bid – a 39.7pc premium on its closing price before the saga began.
it said: ‘it is only through engagement that Akzo Nobel can determine if PPG is prepared to bid at a level that provides adequate consideration to shareholders.’
Another top 20 shareholder, Columbia Threadneedle, echoed elliot’s sentiments while dutch shareholder Veb called for the company to reconsider the deal.
Shareholder comments have prompted suggestions there may still be room for a takeover.
The talks have sparked fresh fears for the british Akzo workers who risk losing their jobs should the takeover go ahead.
Akzo acquired the paints and coatings division of ICI, the former UK industrial chemicals firm, for £8bn in 2008. The firm employs more than 3,300 people in the UK in the north-east, Glasgow, suffolk, the Midlands and at its slough headquarters. The firm’s UK plants produce more than £866m worth of goods a year, manufacturing ICI legacy brands such as dulux paints, Cuprinol wood preserver and Polycell, the wood and wall filler.
Akzo rejected PPG’s first bid earlier this month and said PPG’s second bid, worth £19.4bn, failed to reflect its current and future value. Ton buchner, chief execu- tive, said of the first bid: ‘ That proposal came in the midst of the dutch elections and came with a high level of insensitivity to what is going on the ground.
‘It created a tremendous uproar in the Netherlands and the countries around it, and this is one of the things that shows you there is a cultural difference in the way people operate.’