AkzoNobel, a Dulux paintmaker, announced on Tuesday that it is intending to acquire paintmaker Axalta Coating Systems in an agreement that will combine the two companies with an enterprise value of $25 billion.
AkzoNobel shareholders are supposed to own 55 percent of the new group, and Axalta investors are supposed to own 45 percent and initially be dual-listed at Amsterdam and New York before being converted to a single NYSE listing, and have two headquarters in Amsterdam and Philadelphia.
The combined company will be headed by the current AkzoNobel CEO, Greg Poux-Guillaume.
In a statement, AkzoNobel CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume said that “This merger will allow us to accelerate our growth ambitions by bringing together highly complementary technologies.”
However, the new firm will have annual revenues of $17 billion, and annual adjusted core earnings (EBITDA) of $3.3 billion and $1.5billion of adjusted free cash flow.
It anticipates achieving annual cost savings of $600 million, 90 percent of which will be achieved in the initial three years after the close of the transaction. Therefore, the merger will be completed by late 2026 to early 2027.
