New Delhi: Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Paints on Friday announced acquisition of Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel’s India unit in a Rs 12,915-crore deal to become the fourth-largest player in the paint industry in the country.
JSW Paints will buy a 74.76 per cent stake in Dulux paint-maker Akzo Nobel India for Rs 8,986 crore and launch an open offer to buy another 25 per cent from open market for up to Rs 3,929.06 crore.
“JSW Paints today (Friday) entered into definitive agreements to acquire up to 74.76 per cent stake in Akzo Nobel India from Akzo Nobel NV and its affiliates, for a maximum consideration under the share purchase agreement of up to Rs 8,986 crore,” it said.
Akzo Nobel NV, in a global statement, said it has signed an agreement to sell its shareholding in Akzo Nobel India Ltd (ANIL) to the JSW Group.
“The transaction is based on a total enterprise value of approximately 1.4 billion euro, representing an EV/EBITDA multiple of 22x, and includes AkzoNobel’s liquid paints and coatings business in India,” it said. However, the Dutch parent firm also said the India Powder Coatings business and International Research Centre, both currently part of ANIL, will be “retained by Akzo Nobel” under full ownership.
As of March 2025, ANIL’s Dutch promoters group, which together held 74.76 per cent shareholding in the company, has exited the Indian decorative paints market, which saw entry of new players such as Aditya Birla Group, disrupting the Indian decorative paints industry with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore.
“The net cash proceeds are expected to be approximately 900 million euros of which around 500 million euros will be used for deleveraging. Following closing, Akzo Nobel intends to launch a 400 million-euro share buyback program,” the Dutch entity said.
Moreover, the deal is also subject to certain closing adjustments and regulatory approvals from the Competition Commission of India and the completion of a mandatory open offer to the public shareholders of ANIL.
JSW Paints Ltd, with other group entities JTPM Metal Traders and JSW EduInfra, has also announced an open offer to acquire the remaining 25.24 per cent share of ANIL from the public shareholders. It has offered a “price of Rs 3,417.77 per equity share (offer price) aggregating to total consideration of up to Rs 3,929.06 crore (assuming full acceptance)”.
Shares of Akzo Nobel India Ltd were trading at Rs 3,438.75 per scrip on the BSE, 7.71 per cent higher than the previous close. It is 0.61 per cent higher than the offer price of Rs 3,417.77 share. In last one year, shares of ANIL were at its highest on November 1, 2024 at Rs 4,517.6 and lowest on July 23, 2024 at Rs 2,806.35.
JSW Paints, which will acquire up to 1.14 crore equity shares of ANIL having a face value of Rs 10, “intends to retain the listing of the target company”, the JSW Group firm said in a public announcement.
The deal will help JSW group expand its play in the paint segment, which it entered in 2019. “This transformative acquisition positions JSW Paints as one of the major players in the sector, which is expected to see robust growth in the years ahead,” it said.
JSW Paints Managing Director Parth Jindal said paints & coatings is one of India’s fastest-growing sectors and JSW Paints is among the fastest-growing paint companies.
“Akzo Nobel India is home to some of the most globally renowned brands of paints & coatings like Dulux, International and Sikkens. We are excited to welcome them to the JSW family. Together, along with the Akzo Nobel India family — employees, customers and partners — we aspire to build the paint company of the future,” he said.
AkzoNobel CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume said, “This transaction is a significant milestone in the execution of our strategy. AkzoNobel India has been a consistently strong performer, and we are proud of the brand and talent that have made it a success. With JSW, we are confident the business is in the hands of a long-term partner with deep local expertise and strong ambitions in the sector.”
In October 2024, Akzo Nobel NV announced a strategic review of its portfolio in South Asia and is looking for strategic options, including partnerships, joint ventures, mergers or divestments. This is to deploy capital towards expanding its core coatings business.
Later, on February 25, ANIL announced to transfer its powder coatings business and International Research Centre (R&D) to its Dutch parent firm Akzo Nobel NV in a Rs 2,143-crore intergroup deal.
AkzoNobel India had acquired “intellectual property rights” of Akzo Nobel Coatings International BV for its decorative paints business in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal for a consideration of Rs 1,152 crore.
Akzo Nobel India has a presence in a wide range of paints and coatings segments spanning from decorative paints; automotive and speciality coatings; industrial coatings; marine, protective and yacht coatings to powder coatings.
Its revenue from operations in FY25 was Rs 4,091.21 crore.
The Indian paint industry is led by Asian Paints. Besides Berger, Kansai Nerolac, Akzo Nobel India (Dulux), Indigo Paints, Shalimar Paints, and Nippon Paints are the other top brands.
In last 5-6 years, several new players have entered the market, including Pidilite with Haisha Paints, Grasim with its Birla Opus, and JSW Paints.
Besides, pipes and fittings manufacturer Astral acquired Gem Paints and JK Cements entered by acquiring Acro Paints asking its entry into the paint sector.
In its latest annual report, Akzo Nobel India, citing the data of the Indian Paints Association, said the paints & coatings industry in the country is estimated to be $8.5 billion in value and 6.3 million MTPA by volume.