Crown's Dublin, Belfast sites to be sold in ICI takeover

The sale of ICI took a step closer today after Akzo Nobel’s £8bn (€11.2bn) offer for the Dulux paint maker was cleared by European authorities.

The European Commission has agreed to the takeover on condition that ICI’s Dutch buyer sells its Crown Paints business.

Akzo has committed to dispose of Crown’s manufacturing and warehouse sites at Dublin and Belfast, and at Darwen near Blackburn, Hull and Warrington in the UK, as well as other smaller businesses such as masonry paints maker Sandtex.

It is also selling businesses in Canada and Belgium as part of the agreement, reducing its paints revenues by around $300m (€207m) a year.

Chief executive Hans Wijers said: “We will be making every effort to ensure that these excellent businesses are transferred to the most appropriate new owners.”

Akzo has already received clearance from regulators in the US and Canada for the deal to create a group with combined revenues of $15bn a year.

ICI agreed to the approach in August after a two-month pursuit by Akzo and the Dutch firm expects the acquisition to be completed by January 2.

The deal marks the end of 80 years of British ownership for ICI, which was first formed in 1926 from the merger of four British chemical companies to challenge the rest of the world’s producers.

One of the four founding businesses was the dynamite-making Scottish subsidiary of Swedish company Nobel Industries, which would later become part of Akzo Nobel.

Akzo has targeted cost savings of around £189m (€264m) from the combination of the two paints business.

The Dutch firm has also struck a deal to sell the ICI’s adhesives and electronic materials business to German chemicals firm Henkel, maker of Persil washing detergent, for £2.7bn (€3.8bn).

ICI has around 26,000 staff worldwide.

Akzo Nobel was formed in 1994 through the merger of Dutch firm Akzo with Nobel Industries. The company also owns Essex-based fibres business Courtaulds, which it bought in 1998.