AkzoNobel has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for US$1.35 billion, completing a review of its Asian decorative paints portfolio.
The deal covers decorative paints operations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Australia. AkzoNobel expects net cash proceeds of about US$1 billion after tax and payments to minority partners.
“The successful completion of our Asia portfolio review is part of an ongoing strategy to focus our portfolio on areas where we can achieve differentiating scale and strengthen our position,” AkzoNobel Chief Executive Greg Poux-Guillaume said.
The Indonesia transaction is expected to close separately in late 2026, while the remaining transactions are expected to close around mid-2027.
The Dulux paintmaker previously sold its decorative paints operations in India and Pakistan for US$1.6 billion and €50 million respectively.
AkzoNobel will now focus on completing its merger with US coatings maker Axalta, which was announced in November last year.
Nippon Paint had submitted multiple proposals to acquire AkzoNobel’s decorative paints business, with the Dutch company saying in July that the approaches valued the business at about €7.5 billion.
The move came after Nippon Paint and US-based Sherwin-Williams withdrew a €12.5 billion bid for the entire AkzoNobel group in June.
The Financial Times reported that Nippon remains interested in a larger deal for AkzoNobel’s decorative paints business, although the integration of the Southeast Asian operations could take time. AkzoNobel has no plans to sell further assets from the business.
Reuters
