AkzoNobel, Axalta near merger approvals with two unit sales

By Dimitri Rhodes

Oct 21 (Reuters) - AkzoNobel and Axalta are closing in on US and EU approvals for their $25 billion merger, with the sales of Akzo's European vehicle refinishing business and Axalta's US wood finishes business being the only remedies regulators have asked for, the Dutch paint maker's CEO said on Wednesday.

Those concessions are aimed at securing approval from the US Federal Trade Commission and Phase 1 clearance from European regulators, setting the deal up for closing in early 2027, in line with previous announcements, Greg Poux-Guillaume told Reuters.

"There's no regulator anywhere that has asked us to do anything else in terms of remedies," he added.

Reuters had reported in October, citing people familiar with the matter, that the companies were set to win EU antitrust approval with a pledge to sell Akzo's vehicle refinish business. A European Commission filing on Friday showed remedies had been offered to secure the approval, without disclosing the details.

Axalta revealed the planned sale of the wood coatings unit in a US regulatory filing on Tuesday.

The EU antitrust decision is expected in November, Jefferies analysts said in a note.

Akzo has pressed ahead with its all-stock merger with Axalta after rejecting a €12.5 billion cash bid from Nippon Paint and Sherwin-Williams in May, a bid it said undervalued the business and would have split it between two suitors.

(Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk, editing by Anna Pruchnicka and Milla Nissi-Prussak)