PPG prepares new Akzo bid after $22.4bn failed

Bloomberg

PPG Industries Inc. is preparing a renewed takeover bid for Akzo Nobel NV, according to people familiar with the matter, taking a second run at Europe’s largest coatings company after a previous offer was rejected.
Exact details of the new proposal couldn’t immediately be learned. Akzo rebuffed PPG’s unsolicited 20.9 billion-euro ($22.4 billion) takeover bid on March 9, saying the offer — worth 83 euros a share at the end of February — substantially undervalued the company.
PPG said at the time it would carefully evaluate its position, calling the original offer an “attractive and comprehensive proposal.” Spokesmen for Akzo Nobel and Pittsburgh-based PPG declined to comment. Shares of the Amsterdam-based company climbed as high as 5.3 percent to a record 79.11 euros at the open of trading on Tuesday, and were trading 3.5 percent higher at 77.70 euros as of 10:42 a.m. local time.
One of the Dutch company’s biggest, long-term investors is urging Akzo to carefully evaluate any new bid from PPG, people familiar with the shareholder’s position said earlier, asking not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public.
Elliott Management Corp., the hedge fund founded by billionaire Paul Singer, is urging Akzo to talk with PPG about raising its bid, people familiar with those talks said last week.

‘JOBS AT RISK’
Political opposition to a takeover by PPG is mounting in the Netherlands, where four provincial governments weighed in on Monday. “This takeover puts more than 5,000 jobs at risk in the provinces,” the administrations of Gelderland, Overijssel, Groningen and Zuid-Holland — where Akzo has a total of 14 sites — said in a joint statement. “Jobs that are needed badly now we’ve left the crisis behind us.”
A combination of the world’s two largest coatings companies would attract intense antitrust scrutiny in Europe and the US They have leading market shares of architectural paint in many European countries, with Akzo making brands such as Dulux and Hammerite and PPG producing Olympic and Pittsburgh brands.