AkzoNobel's plans to sell off its chemicals business fail to appease activist investors
AkzoNobel's headquarters in Amsterdam Sam Dean T roubled AkzoNobel’s offer to hand back cash worth almost £1.3bn failed to appease leading investors as the paints giant continues to face pressure to engage in takeover talks with American rival PPG Industries. The Dutch company has outlined plans to separate its specialty chemicals arm from its paints branch to create two focused businesses within a year. It vowed that the “vast majority” of net proceeds will be returned to shareholders, and said its payout for 2017 will include a €1bn special dividend alongside a 50pc rise in the regular payout. However, the move failed to satisfy activist investor Elliott Advisors, which has been leading the campaign against Akzo’s management. Akzo has rejected two takeover bids from Pittsburgh-based PPG , saying the company is better off alone and warning that an agreement with PPG would result in job cuts. But it has been criticised by ...