Akzo Nobel to sell South-east Asia paints business to Nippon Paint for US$1.35 billion

[TOKYO] Akzo Nobel said on Monday (Oct 5) it has agreed to sell its South-east Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for US$1.35 billion, completing a review of its Asian decorative paints portfolio.

The sale covers decorative paints operations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Australia, the Dutch paint-maker said, adding that it expects net cash proceeds of about US$1 billion after tax and payments to minority partners.

The Dulux paint-maker earlier divested its decorative paints operations in India and Pakistan for US$1.6 billion and 50 million euros, respectively.

“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,” Akzo Nobel CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume said.

The Indonesia deal is expected to close separately in late 2026, while the remaining transactions are expected to close around mid-2027.

Akzo Nobel said it will now focus on the successful closing of its merger with US coatings maker Axalta, which was announced in November 2025.

Nippon Paint submitted multiple proposals to acquire Akzo Nobel’s decorative paints business, the Dutch company said in July, valuing it at about 7.5 billion euros ($8.44 billion).

That approach followed the withdrawal of a 12.5 billion euros bid for the entire company that Nippon Paint had pursued jointly with US-based paint-maker Sherwin-Williams in June.

The Financial Times, which earlier reported the South-east Asia deal, said Nippon remains interested in a larger deal for the decorative paint business.

SEE ALSO

Nippon Paint said to offer US$8.6 billion for Akzo Nobel paint arm

It added, however, that the integration of the South-east Asia business could occupy the company for some time, and Akzo Nobel does not have plans to sell further assets from the business. REUTERS