AkzoNobel Officially Acknowledges for The First Time the Intention to Acquire ICI
Arnhem news, the Netherlands, Akzo Nobel has confirmed to the public. It has appointed investment bank Morgan Stanley to evaluate its acquisition of ICI Group. But further plans were not announced.
Akzo Nobel, after selling its Oganon bioscience business, is focusing more on corporate development in the coatings and chemicals markets. This is also the first time that AkzoNobel has acknowledged its intention to acquire ICI.
Although there were rumors in the international market in 2006 that AkzoNobel was interested in acquiring ICI, the company did not make a public statement. At that time, it also became a hot topic of discussion in the industry. AkzoNobel officially acknowledged the acquisition plan. It also shows AkzoNobel’s attitude to focus on the coatings and chemicals market and its determination to expand its market share and production capacity in the coatings business.
ICI Group is best known for manufacturing Dulux paints, and its sale to a foreign group would be a landmark event in the history of British industry. Manufacturing giants Corus Steel, BOC Group and telecommunications giant Marconi have all been acquired by foreign competitors. But ICI Group has always been the flagship and trendsetter of the British business community. This traditional status will make this acquisition a world-renowned one.
Some private equity firms also want to join the takeover battle. But they lack the synergy of chemical industry operations. This point will get them out. ICI itself is taking action, having cut its debt and proposed a number of mergers in recent years.
The ICI Group was formed in 1926 by the merger of four British groups, and in the 1990s, faced with growth difficulties, it separated its two main branches, pharmaceuticals and pesticides, from the group’s larger chemicals. The two were combined to create Zeneca, but Zeneca took over a low-yielding business with high debt. After John McAdam took over as CEO, growth began to resume.