MOSCOW (MRC) -- Finnish paints maker Tikkurila said on Thursday Pittsburgh-based PPG has raised its all-shares offer for the company to 34.00 euros per share, topping a rival bid from Akzo Nobel, reported Reuters.
The two industry heavyweights are seeking to tap into Tikkurila’s strong position in Finland, Sweden, the Baltics, Russia and Poland.
“Today’s bid values Tikkurila ...well above both Akzo Nobel’s and PPG’s own multiples, highlighting the quality and importance of acquiring the asset,” Citi analysts said in a note.
Tikkurila’s board has unanimously decided to recommend that the shareholders accept the PPG’s raised offer, which values the firm at 1.5 billion euros (US1.8 billion).
Shares in Tikkurila were up 3.6% at 34.2 euros at 1031 GMT.
Tikkurila said some major shareholders, holding 29.3% of its shares, have agreed to accept the offer if PPG gets regulatory approvals for the acquisition.
PPG has lowered its acceptance rate for the offer to 66.7% of shares from its original 90% target.
The battle for Tikkurila started in December with PPG’s 25 euros per share offer, which it raised to 27.75 euros after rival Hempel approached Tikkurila.
Akzo Nobel last week made a binding offer of 31.25 euros per share, valuing Tikkurila at 1.4 billion euros.
As MRC informed previously, in February 2020, PPG said it had completed its acquisition of Industria Chimica Reggiana (ICR, Reggio Emilia, Italy), a maker of automotive refinish products. Financial terms of the deal, including purchase price, were not disclosed. The deal was announced on 8 January. ICR was founded in 1961 and employs about 180 people. ICR manufactures automotive refinish products, including putties, primers, basecoats and clear coats. It also makes a range of coatings, enamels and primers for light commercial vehicles and other light industrial coatings applications. ICR employs about 180 people and sells its products in more than 70 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the US and Latin America.
We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
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