Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd.

AkzoNobel is expected to offer divestments in its planned $25 billion purchase of Axalta Coating to try to allay concerns from European Union regulators. The remedies, expected to be filed next week with the European Commission, would involve the sale of certain overlapping businesses in the vehicle refinish market, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday citing people familiar with the matter, while the EC's issues over the combination's impact on the powder coating markets have been dropped. The EC declined to comment to Bloomberg, and both AkzoNobel and Axalta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Separately, Reuters reported that EC regulators will approve the deal with the remedies, and the filing from the companies next week will extend the current EC's Oct. 22 deadline by 10 working days. The EC has until Oct. 22 to decide if it will approve the deal or open an in-depth probe. AkzoNobel said on Monday that it agreed to sell its Southeast Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for $1.35 billion, concluding its strategic review of its Asian decorative paints portfolio, and Axalta in November announced an all-stock merger with AkzoNobel to create a global coatings company valued at approximately $25 billion.

Kasikorn Securities, citing Reuters, reported that on October 5, AkzoNobel announced an agreement to sell its architectural coatings business in Southeast Asia to Nippon Paint for 1.35 billion dollars, or about 45.48 billion baht. The sale covers decorative paint operations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. The Indonesia portion of the deal is expected to close in late 2026, while the remaining countries are expected to complete in mid-2027. The brokerage views this news as slightly negative for TOA, as it causes the company to miss an opportunity to invest in expanding its market share both domestically and abroad, even though the company currently has a strong cash position of approximately 10 billion baht and almost no debt. Looking ahead, competition in the industry is not expected to intensify. In Thailand, TOA holds more than half of the market, while in overseas markets the reduction in the number of players should keep competitive conditions unchanged or even ease. Kasikorn Securities therefore continues to select TOA as one of its Top Picks, citing its attractive valuation, its position as market leader in paints, and earnings trends that are stronger than other construction materials stocks. It recommends buying with a target price of 19.0 baht, versus the current share price of 14.80 baht, implying a 2026/27 PER of only 10 times and 9.4 times, below the industry average of about 14 times. The brokerage believes the share price decline already reflects concerns over still-high energy costs, while the company has the ability to pass on higher costs and its earnings estimates already factor in these pressures. First-half 2026 profit accounted for 59% of the full-year profit forecast.

AkzoNobel said on Monday it has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for $1.35 billion, concluding its strategic 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 paints maker said, adding that it expects net cash proceeds of about $1 billion after tax and payments to minority partners. The Dulux paintmaker earlier divested its decorative paints operations in India and Pakistan for $1.6 billion and 50 million euros, respectively. The Indonesia deal is expected to close separately in late 2026, while the remaining transactions are expected to close around mid-2027. AkzoNobel said it will now focus on the successful closing of its merger with US coatings maker Axalta, which was announced last November.

Nippon Paint Holdings announced on the 13th that it has proposed to acquire the architectural coatings business of Dutch paint giant AkzoNobel. It has offered a total of 7.5 billion euros. In April, Nippon Paint Holdings jointly made a full takeover bid for AkzoNobel with US paint giant Sherwin-Williams, but the company rejected it. AkzoNobel announced plans last November to merge with US peer Axalta.