PPG preparing a higher takeover bid on Akzo Nobel – report (translated)
PPG is preparing a higher bid on Akzo Nobel, the Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad reported, based on an anonymous source working with PPG.
PPG will not walk away from its attempt to take over Akzo Nobel, the source said. PPG has experience with companies that decline a takeover, but a takeover would benefit shareholders and other stakeholders, the source said.
Akzo Nobel refused the bid because the bid was a ‘significant undervaluation with significant risks and uncertainties’, the report said.
In a response to the refusal PPG announced that it will keep all the different interests in mind: those of shareholders, customers, employees and communities supported by Akzo Nobel.
The unnamed source told Het Financieele Dagblad that the bid came not entirely unexpected to Akzo Nobel. There had been discussions before the bid was placed, he said.
Another Dutch daily, De Financiële Telegraaf, also reported that there could come a higher bid from PPG, citing unnamed analysts.
De Financiële Telegraaf said that, after Akzo Nobel refused the takeover bid PPG made this week, PPG could come with a higher bid so that the company will get pressure from its shareholders to start negotiations.
In these negotiations PPG and Akzo Nobel can also talk about other things, such as employment opportunities. The talks can also take away some of Akzo Nobel’s resistance, the report said.