AkzoNobel Sells Southeast Asia Paints Business to Nippon Paint for $1.35 Billion

AkzoNobel has reached an agreement to sell its Southeast Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for $1.35 billion. The deal covers operations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. After taxes and payments to minority partners, AkzoNobel expects to receive around $1 billion in net cash proceeds.

The sale is part of the company’s ongoing strategy to focus on areas where it can achieve greater scale. AkzoNobel’s Chief Executive Greg Poux-Guillaume stated that this move aligns with their strategy to strengthen their portfolio. The Indonesia deal is expected to close by late 2026, while the remaining transactions should finalize around mid-2027.

This follows earlier divestments of AkzoNobel’s decorative paints operations in India and Pakistan for $1.6 billion and 50 million euros, respectively. Meanwhile, AkzoNobel is also working on the completion of its merger with US coatings maker Axalta, which was announced in November 2023.

Nippon Paint had previously submitted multiple proposals to acquire AkzoNobel’s decorative paints business, valuing it at approximately €7.5 billion ($8.44 billion). The company had earlier withdrawn a €12.5 billion bid for the entire AkzoNobel company, which it pursued jointly with US-based Sherwin-Williams in June.