The European Commission conditionally approved the roughly $25 billion all-stock merger of AkzoNobel and Axalta, requiring AkzoNobel to divest its entire European vehicle-refinish business, with closing expected in early 2027.
The European Commission has conditionally approved the proposed merger of Dutch coatings maker AkzoNobel and US-based Axalta, clearing the biggest regulatory hurdle for a roughly $25 billion combination. The two companies announced the decision on 6 November and said they expect the deal to close in early 2027, subject to the remaining approvals.
The condition is a single, targeted divestment. AkzoNobel must sell its entire vehicle-refinish coatings business in the European Economic Area, the paints used by body shops to repaint vehicles after accidents, corrosion or wear. The sale must include a dedicated manufacturing site capable of handling the same volumes, plus the assets, intellectual property, staff and transitional services needed to keep the business running, and the buyer must already supply coatings or be an industrial player in a related industry. The companies may not complete their merger until the Commission approves the purchaser.
The Commission's concern was concentration. The four largest suppliers of vehicle-refinish coatings account for up to 80 to 90 percent of sales in the EEA, with Axalta the market leader and AkzoNobel fourth, and the Commission found the deal as first notified would have significantly reduced competition in that market. The companies said the commitments remove the horizontal overlap between their activities in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and that no other competition issues were identified in any other market.
The approval itself is confirmed in the companies' joint release and in the Commission's decision as reported by Agence Europe, and the two accounts agree on the remedy's scope, including the manufacturing site, assets, intellectual property and staff, and the rule that the merger cannot close before a buyer is approved. The $25 billion enterprise value and roughly $17 billion in combined revenue come from the companies' own announcements. The exchange terms, 0.6539 AkzoNobel shares for each Axalta share, leaving AkzoNobel holders with about 55 percent of the combined group, are set out in the original merger agreement and repeated across coverage of the approval. The UK review is still open, with a Phase 1 decision due by 11 November.
The deal was announced in November 2025 as an all-stock merger of equals, and shareholders of both companies approved it on 5 August 2026. The combined group would span powder, aerospace, refinish, mobility, marine, protective, industrial and decorative coatings, serving more than 100,000 customers in over 140 countries, and would be domiciled in the Netherlands with headquarters in Amsterdam and Philadelphia.
What remains is execution. The companies must find a buyer the Commission accepts for the refinish business, and other regulatory approvals are still pending before the early-2027 closing target can be met. Until the divestment is agreed and the remaining clearances land, the approval is a milestone rather than a completed merger.