UpdateAkzoNobel shares gain ground on National Starch sale

21 June 2010 11:41  [Source: ICIS news]

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LONDON (ICIS news)--AkzoNobel shares climbed 2% in morning trading on Monday following the announcement of the sale of the paint maker’s specialty starches and polymers business, National Starch.

The divestment, to US-based Corn Products International (CPI), was agreed at $1.3bn. National Starch's 2009 sales were €878m ($1.1bn).

This comes two years after the sale of the bulk of the National Starch business to Henkel for £2.7bn, or €4bn at the time, completed in April 2008.

AkzoNobel had concluded its acquisition of ICI for £8bn three months earlier. Henkel had agreed to buy the National Starch adhesives and electronic materials businesses as part of that deal.

AkzoNobel had put the divestment of the remainder of National Starch on hold through the recession, but said in April this year that there was renewed interest in the business.

“This transaction today marks the strong focus on our core business and confirms AkzoNobel’s transformation into the world’s largest global coatings and specialty chemicals company,” said AkzoNobel CEO Hans Wijers.

“We can look to the future with much confidence as we are well positioned to capture growth both organically and by selected acquisitions,” he added.

CPI said the deal would improve its food processing and ingredients portfolio.

National Starch had a difficult 2009, with demand for its products in food ingredients and paper-making declining sharply. However, demand improved towards the end of the year. High raw material costs had a negative impact on profitability in AkzoNobel’s specialty chemicals segment.

National Starch became a discontinued operation within the AkzoNobel portfolio in April 2010.

($1 = €0.80, €1 = $0.84)

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By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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