JSW Paints and top private equity firm TPG have held preliminary discussions for a potential tie-up as part of the ongoing race to buy the majority stake held by Dulux paint maker AkzoNobel India's Dutch parent.
No final call has been taken yet on the proposed consortium and structure and the plans may change later if required. Other suitors like Indigo Paints, Berger Paints and Aditya Birla group have also expressed preliminary interest in the proposed transaction, which is being run by investment bank Citi.
Dutch firm AkzoNobel NV holds a 74.76 percent stake in AkzoNobel India and any attempt at purchasing a controlling stake will trigger an open offer. Based on the market cap of the Indian arm at the end of day's trade on January 17, the parent's stake is valued at around Rs 13,043 crore. The domestic unit's stock price has rallied by 43 percent last year.
In October 2024, Akzo Nobel NV announced that with an initial focus on its decorative paints positions in South Asia, it is conducting a strategic review of its portfolio in order to redeploy capital towards growing its core coatings businesses. As per an exchange disclosure earlier, Akzo Nobel India will start exploring the potential sale of its powder coatings business as well as the R&D operations to a separate, indirect wholly-owned arm - Akzo Nobel NV, as requested by parent entity.
The board of Akzo Nobel India also informed that it has been asked to start the process of potential acquisition of intellectual properties under the decorative paints business that are currently owned by Akzo Nobel NV.
