AkzoNobel closes sale of Specialty Chemicals to The Carlyle Group and GIC

Akzo Nobel N.V. (AKZA; AKZOY) has today completed the sale of the Specialty Chemicals business to The Carlyle Group and GIC for an enterprise value of €10.1 billion.

Thierry Vanlancker, CEO of AkzoNobel, commented: "Today is a key milestone in the history of AkzoNobel, creating a focused paints and coatings company, with market leading positions, strong global brands, and a clear strategy to create value for all our stakeholders.

"This is also an important step for the Specialty Chemicals business and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to our colleagues and wish them a successful future with Carlyle and GIC."

Charles Shaver, CEO of Specialty Chemicals, said: "I am delighted to assume my new role at Specialty Chemicals and look forward to working with the management team, Carlyle and GIC to deliver long term success. Specialty Chemicals has a strong global presence and a talented and dedicated team and I believe there is significant opportunity to drive additional growth through innovation and customer focus to build on the company's leading positions in its markets."

Martin Sumner and Zeina Bain, Managing Directors at The Carlyle Group, added: "We are excited to invest in Specialty Chemicals and we are committed to growing the business and continuing to enhance its competitive position. Specialty Chemicals has a great heritage, a high quality asset base and workforce, an excellent track record of innovation as well as a diversified customer and product portfolio. We look forward to working with Charlie and the management team to support Specialty Chemicals as it embarks on a new phase as an independent company."

As agreed at the Extraordinary General Meeting of November 30, 2017, AkzoNobel will return the vast majority of net proceeds from the sale of Specialty Chemicals to its shareholders. Further details will be announced in due course.