AkzoNobel Agrees To Sell Southeast Asian Decorative Paints Business To Nippon Paint In $1.35 Billion Deal
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AkzoNobel will sell its Southeast Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for $1.35 billion, expecting $1 billion in net proceeds. Read more for details.
AkzoNobel has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for $1.35 billion, marking the completion of its review of the Asian portfolio. The AkzoNobel Nippon Paint deal covers operations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Australia. AkzoNobel said it expects to receive about $1 billion in net cash proceeds after taxes and payments to minority partners.
The sale is part of the Dulux paintmaker’s wider effort to streamline its portfolio and focus on businesses where it can build scale. The transaction also comes as AkzoNobel prepares to complete its planned merger with US coatings company Axalta, which was announced in November last year.
What Does The Nippon Paint Deal Include?
The transaction will be completed in stages. The Indonesian business is expected to change hands separately in late 2026, while the remaining deals are expected to close around the middle of 2027.
AkzoNobel Chief Executive Greg Poux-Guillaume said the completion of the Asia portfolio review supports the company’s strategy of concentrating on areas where it can build a stronger and more differentiated position.
The company has been reducing its exposure to decorative paints in Asia for some time. It previously sold its decorative paints operations in India for $1.6 billion and its Pakistan business for €50 million.
The latest AkzoNobel Southeast Asia sale gives Nippon Paint a larger presence across several important Asian markets. Nippon had previously made multiple proposals to acquire the AkzoNobel decorative paints business. In July, AkzoNobel said those proposals valued the wider business at around €7.5 billion ($8.44 billion).
Why Is Nippon Paint Interested?
Nippon Paint’s latest deal follows its earlier attempt to acquire all of AkzoNobel. In June, Nippon Paint and US-based Sherwin-Williams withdrew a €12.5 billion proposal for the Dutch company.
The Financial Times had earlier reported that Nippon Paint remained interested in a broader deal involving AkzoNobel’s decorative paints operations. However, integrating the Southeast Asian assets could take considerable time, while AkzoNobel has indicated that it does not currently plan to sell additional assets from its decorative paints business.
For AkzoNobel, attention will now shift towards completing its merger with Axalta while the Southeast Asian transactions move towards their respective closing dates.
This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice from Kotak Neo. For compliance T&C and disclaimers, Visit www.kotakneo.com/disclaimer
Vishwa has spent 10+ years across fintech and FMCG doing what most people miss, connecting the dots, catching trends before they trend, and finding the angle nobody else thought to ask about.
At Kotak Neo, she drives content strategy for neoshorts, Kotak News Desk, and Investing Guide, turning market noise into something worth reading.
When she's not decoding markets, she trades charts for canvases, chasing art, painting, and architecture across cities she's yet to explore.
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