Axalta Coating Systems a global paint and coatings company sold by DuPont, confirmed it is in talks with a Japanese paint company.
“Axalta today confirmed that it is engaged in discussions with Nippon Paint regarding a potential acquisition of Axalta. Axalta will pursue such a transaction only if its Board of Directors determines that it is in the best interest of Axalta to do so. There can be no assurances that a definitive agreement between the parties will be reached or on what terms,” the company.
Earlier, Axalta announced it had ended talks with Dutch-paintmaker AkzoNobel. Axalta is best known for paint and coatings used by body shops and the automotive and heavy truck industries.
Philadelphia-based Axalta was sold by DuPont in 2012 to a private equity firm, which went on to engineer a public offering of stock. A sale at a premium price would allow original investors to cash out with handsome profits.
DuPont took some heat from activist shareholder Nelson Peltz in 2014 and 2015. Peltz believed the company was worth more than the nearly $5 billion sales price. Thanks in part to the bump in the stock price from takeover speculation, the stock market value of Axalta has risen to $8.6 billion.
The company worked to put distance between itself and DuPont, moving headquarters and other operations across the line to Glen Mills, PA and Center City Philadelphia and developing a research center at the Philadelphia Naval Yard.
Axalta has 13,300 employees and more than 100,000 customers in 130 countries. For more information, visit axaltacoatingsystems.com.