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Nippon Paint Holdings shares rose in Tokyo on Monday, October 5, after the Japanese paintmaker agreed to acquire AkzoNobel’s decorative paints businesses in Southeast Asia, Australia and Papua New Guinea for an enterprise value of about $1.35 billion. The agreement covers operations in seven markets and advances AkzoNobel’s review of its Asian decorative-paints portfolio.
Nippon Paint shares traded about 1% higher at 1,169 yen in Monday trading, according to Investing.com, while the Nikkei 225 was up 2.28%. The purchase is expected to be funded with cash and bank borrowings, rather than newly issued shares. Completion is staggered: the Indonesian transaction is expected to close separately in late 2026, with the remaining deals targeted for around mid-2027, subject to required approvals.
Seven markets included in the agreement
The businesses being sold are AkzoNobel’s decorative-paints operations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Australia. The agreement concerns decorative paints; AkzoNobel said the portfolio review was part of its strategy to focus on areas where it can build scale and strengthen its position.
AkzoNobel put the transaction’s total enterprise value at approximately $1.35 billion, or €1.20 billion, equivalent to 21 times the businesses’ 2025 EBITDA. It expects net cash proceeds of about $1 billion after tax and payments to minority partners. Those figures describe the seller’s valuation and expected proceeds, which differ from the headline enterprise value.
Business generated $291 million in 2025 revenue
Nippon Paint reported that the businesses generated $291 million in revenue and $65 million in EBITDA in 2025, giving them an EBITDA margin of roughly 22%. AkzoNobel’s 21-times valuation uses that 2025 EBITDA. Nippon Paint, using its own forward-year calculation, described the purchase price as about 16 times projected 2026 EBITDA.
Nippon Paint has said the acquisition is expected to add to profit after completion. It identified potential operating benefits from joint procurement, manufacturing and logistics, along with cross-selling and lower overhead. These are the buyer’s stated expectations; the companies have not yet reported realized savings, and integration remains ahead.
Share rise followed earlier pursuit of Akzo’s paints business
The deal is a regional acquisition following unsuccessful efforts by Nippon Paint to secure a broader combination with AkzoNobel. Reuters reported that Nippon Paint submitted proposals valuing AkzoNobel’s decorative-paints business at about €7.5 billion. Earlier, Nippon Paint and U.S.-based Sherwin-Williams withdrew a joint proposal to acquire the entire Dutch company, valued at €12.5 billion.
Those earlier approaches were substantially broader than Monday’s agreement. The new transaction gives Nippon Paint a defined group of operations across seven markets, while AkzoNobel said the sale completes its review of its Asian decorative-paints portfolio. AkzoNobel had previously sold its decorative-paints operations in India and Pakistan, according to Reuters reporting.
Indonesia closing is on a separate timetable
The agreement does not have a single expected closing date. AkzoNobel expects the Indonesia sale to complete separately in late 2026, while the transactions covering the other markets are expected around mid-2027. Regulatory approvals and other completion conditions remain outstanding.
AkzoNobel said it will now focus on completing its planned merger with U.S. coatings company Axalta, announced in November 2025. The announcement did not specify further details about how the transferred businesses will be integrated into Nippon Paint’s regional operations or provide a breakdown of the purchase price by country.
