Lanxess plans to buy specialty chemicals division of Akzo Nobel
Chemical specialist Lanxess has linked up with private equity shop Apollo to court Akzo Nobel’s specialty chemicals division. But they are not alone.
Cologne-based chemical company Laxness, together with US financial investor Apollo, is bidding for choice parts of the specialty chemicals division of Dutch company Akzo Nobel, sources told Handelsblatt. There is still no information on the size of the bid, but Akzo Novel values the unit at EUR 8 to EUR 12 billion.
However, Lanxess and Apollo aren’t the only suitors. Two other consortia have expressed interest and will submit bids by the end of the week, adding to the ongoing frenzy of M&A in the chemical sector. In such an early stage of courtship and with strong competition from two consortia consisting of private equity firms CVC and KKR, and Bain Capital and Advent International, it is unclear whether Lanxess and Apollo can woo Akzo Nobel. Financial investors Blackstone and Carlyle are also said to be interested.
