Amersterdam, the Netherlands
www.akzonobel.com

PUBLIC COMPANY

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1994

REVENUE: $10.66 billion
(2015: $10.925 billion)

MARKETS SERVED

Decorative paints; Marine and protective coatings; Auto and specialty coatings; Industrial and powder coatings

KEY EXECUTIVES

Ton Büchner, chairman and CEO; Maëlys Castella, CFO; Ruud Joosten, executive committee member, Decorative Paints; Conrad Keijzer, executive committee member, Performance Coatings; Werner Führmann, executive committee member, Specialty Chemicals managing directors: Oscar Wezenbeek (marine coatings); John Wolff (powder coatings); Alberto Slikta (specialty coatings); AB Ghosh (metal coatings); Mauricio Bannwart (protective coatings); Simon Parker (vehicles refinishes); Volkan Goran (wood coatings); Roger Jakeman (performance coatings); Klaas Kruithof (Performance Coatings – RD&I director); Jaap Kuiper, Decorative Paints managing director – LATAM; Lin Lianqi, Decorative Paints managing director – China and North Asia;  Amit Jain, Decorative Paints managing director – North West Europe; Jan-Piet van Kesteren, Decorative Paints managing director – Eastern Europe & Africa; Jeremy Rowe, Decorative Paints managing director – South East & South Asia, Middle East;  David Menko, Decorative Paints global marketing director; Trudy Schoolenberg, Decorative Paints global supply chain and R&D director.

AkzoNobel is active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals and employs approximately 45,600 people (including its Specialty Chemicals business) in more than 80 countries.  Mature Europe comprises 36 percent of the company’s revenue, Asia Pacific 27 percent, North America 17 percent, Latin America 10 percent, emerging Europe 7 percent and other countries 3 percent.

“In a year of record profitability in terms of return on sales and return on investment, our purpose of creating everyday essentials to make people’s lives more liveable and inspiring was brought to life,” said Ton Büchner, chairman and CEO of AkzoNobel. “We continued to build on our solid foundation of operational excellence to drive growth and sharpened our focus on delivering more value for our people, our customers and our shareholders.”

“As well as introducing a series of innovative new products, we began to advance our digital agenda and made important steps with regard to sustainability, setting us up to accelerate organic growth. Our expanding Human Cities initiative – everything we do for and with society – also continued to impact millions of people around the world.
In 2016, AkzoNobel led the creation of the Human Cities Coalition, a public-private partnership of Dutch organizations from government, NGOs  and business, it’s focused on contributing to Goal 11 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Sustainable cities and communities.

Expanded R&D in the U.S.

AkzoNobel has completed the €2.6 million ($3.5 million) expansion of its U.S. research and development facilities in Houston, Texas.

Carried out in phases over a period of three years, the investment in the site - which employs around 40 scientists - will support the company’s Protective Coatings, Marine Coatings and Specialty Coatings businesses.

Part of AkzoNobel’s ongoing investments in its global RD&I activities, the Houston upgrade follows an investment of €12.6 million in a research and innovation hub in Felling, UK, announced earlier this year.

Additional capabilities at the facility include a dedicated area for experimental paint making, a modern paint application laboratory and environmentally controlled drying areas for conditioning of test panels. Enhanced chemical resistance testing equipment is also available to support the Ceilcote and Enviroline lining ranges in North America.

AkzoNobel is in the process of reviewing strategic options for the separation of its Specialty Chemicals business.

The Specialty Chemicals business, which had revenues of €4.8 billion in 2016, is strongly positioned with a broad portfolio of leading technologies and chemicals which service a wide range of end-user segments including construction, industrial and consumer goods. The separation will allow the Specialty Chemicals business to continue to build and accelerate its market-leading positions across a range of market segments.

As part of the separation, AkzoNobel will consider various alternative ownership structures for the Specialty Chemicals business including, but not limited to, the establishment of an independent listed entity. The ultimate structure will be determined by reference to shareholder value maximization as well as broader stakeholder considerations.

The company announced that the decision was brought forward following confirmation that AkzoNobel has rejected an unsolicited, non-binding and conditional proposal from PPG Industries Inc. for all of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the capital of AkzoNobel. PPG’s proposal substantially undervalues AkzoNobel and is not in the interest of its stakeholders, including its shareholders, customers and employees.

“Our Specialty Chemicals business is an industry leader in many of the markets in which it operates and we are extremely proud of its heritage, performance and people,” said Büchner. “We are reviewing strategic options to separate it from the company to create focus for both Specialty Chemicals and the Decorative Paints and Performance Coatings group, allowing them to build further on their respective leadership positions.”

“As stated at our full-year results announcement in February, we are now a leaner, more agile company with a solid financial and operational foundation and a focus on growth. AkzoNobel has enjoyed a record performance in recent years in terms of profitability and has made significant strategic progress, allowing us to take this decision.”