Dutch paint manufacturer AkzoNobel has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for $1.35 billion, completing a comprehensive review of its Asian decorative paints portfolio. According to reports from Business Standard, the sale covers decorative paints operations across Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Australia. The Dutch paints maker expects net cash proceeds of about $1 billion after tax and payments to minority partners.
This Southeast Asia divestiture follows AkzoNobel's earlier sale of decorative paints operations in India and Pakistan for $1.6 billion and 50 million euros, respectively. As reported by Business Standard, AkzoNobel Chief Executive Greg Poux-Guillaume stated that the successful completion of the Asia portfolio review is part of an ongoing strategy to focus the portfolio on areas where the company can achieve differentiating scale and strengthen its position. The company will now focus on the successful closing of its merger with US coatings maker Axalta, which was announced in November last year.
According to Business Standard, the Indonesia deal is expected to close separately in late 2026, while the remaining transactions are expected to close around mid-2027. Nippon Paint had previously submitted multiple proposals to acquire AkzoNobel's decorative paints business, valuing it at about €7.5 billion ($8.44 billion). The Financial Times reported that Nippon remains interested in a larger deal for the decorative paint business, but that integration of the Southeast Asia business could occupy the company for some time.
The current deal follows the withdrawal of a €12.5 billion bid for the entire company that Nippon Paint had pursued jointly with US-based paintmaker Sherwin-Williams in June. As reported by Business Standard, AkzoNobel does not have plans to sell further assets from the business, indicating this represents the completion of their Asian divestiture strategy.
