AkzoNobel to sell its SE Asia decorative paint unit to Nippon Paint
Dutch group on verge of handing Japanese rival a small victory as it seeks to exit non-core markets ahead of Axalta merger
Dulux owner AkzoNobel has agreed a deal to sell its south-east Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for $1.35bn, handing its Japanese rival a small victory after previous attempts at larger deals failed.
Nippon announced the acquisition on Monday, confirming an earlier FT report. As part of the deal, Akzo will offload its decorative paints business best known for the Dulux brand in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, as well as Papua New Guinea and Australia.
The disposal would follow through on an earlier pledge by AkzoNobel chief executive Grégoire Poux-Guillaume to withdraw from peripheral markets in south-east Asia where the company is not a market leader.
Poux-Guillaume is also working to complete AkzoNobel’s merger with US peer Axalta, announced in November, which would create a New York-listed paint and chemicals group with an enterprise value of about $25bn.
The south-east Asia divestment, which is unrelated to approval for the Axalta deal, comes after Nippon failed in previous attempts to pursue larger deals. These included a €7.5bn bid in July for all of AkzoNobel’s decorative paint business as well as a €13bn full takeover proposal in May alongside US peer Sherwin-Williams.
Nippon remains interested in a larger deal for the decorative paint business, according to people familiar with the matter. But they added that integration of the south-east Asia business could occupy the company for some time and that AkzoNobel does not have plans to sell further assets from the business.
Nippon’s deal for Akzo’s south-east Asia business is expected to close in mid-2027, Nippon said.
Shareholders in August approved the Akzo-Axalta combination, which will have a single listing in New York while maintaining dual headquarters in Amsterdam and Philadelphia. The combined company would have annual revenues of about $17bn, making it one of the world’s largest coatings groups.
AkzoNobel has previously flagged the possibility of selling the south-east Asian operations before completing the larger merger.
The company in 2025 agreed to sell its Indian business to local group JSW in a deal valued at about €1.4bn as part of its push to dispose of non-core assets.