Update, 12/20/12, 12:15 p.m. EST: The ninth paragraph of this story has been revised to include the full list of Blake, Cassels & Graydon partners advising Akzo Nobel in connection with the sale of its North American unit to PPG Industries. The 11th paragraph was previously revised to incorporate the names of the Hogan Lovells partners advising PPG on the deal.
Calling it the most important acquisition in the company’s history, PPG Industries has agreed to purchase Akzo Nobel’s North American architectural coatings business for $1.05 billion.
In announcing the deal on December 14, PPG said that gaining the 400 North American stores changing hands in the acquisition will give it a total of roughly 1,000 North American outlets and help it advance its strategy of expanding its presence across the continent. PPG chairman and CEO Charles Bunch said in a statement that the deal also puts the company in a position to take advantage when the housing industry bounces back.
“It is also an attractive way to significantly increase our scale in the North American architectural paint market, which we anticipate will benefit from a prolonged construction market recovery,” Bunch said.
For its part, Akzo Nobelwhich operates in more than 80 countries and has some 55,000 employeessaid in a statement that disposing of the North American unit will allow it to focus on its European business. Reuters reported that the unit being sold has been struggling financially.
Akzo Nobel is being advised on the deal by a trio of law firms: Sullivan & Cromwell, Netherlands-based De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, and Canada’s Blake, Cassels & Graydon.
Leading the S&C team are M&A partners Richard Morrissey (London) and John Evangelakos (New York). Other lawyers from the firm working on the matter include partner Eric Wang (London) and special counsel David Passey (New York), who are advising on tax issues; partner Yvonne Quinn (New York) and special counsel Eric Queen (New York), who are handling antitrust issues; executive compensation and benefit special counsel Rebecca Coccaro (Washington, D.C.); partner Mark Rosenberg (New York) and special counsel Matthew Brennan (New York), who are advising on environmental issues; and Palo Altobased intellectual property partner Nader Mousavi.
S&C has long-standing ties to Akzo Nobel, advising the company, for instance, on its 2007 buyout of British chemical company ICI for $16 billion. The firm also represented Akzo Nobel in 2007 when it was accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with its operations in Iraq.
De Brauw Blackstone is fielding an eight-lawyer team led by corporate and M&A partner Dieter Wolff. Other attorneys from the firm working on the matter include corporate and merger and acquisition partner Ton Schutte, partner Jan Pieter Hustinx, who coheads De Brauw Blackstone’s patent and technology practice, tax partner Paul Sleurink and partner Erik Pijnacker Hordijk, who is advising on energy and European law.
The Blakes team advising Akzo Nobel on the deal includes corporate partner Craig Thorburn, employment partners Natalie Bussiere and Abdul-Basit Kahn, real estate partner Silvana D’Alimonte, regulatory partners Jason Gudofsky and Micah Wood, pensions partner Caroline Helbronner, environmental partner Jonathan Kahn, intellectual property partner Anthony Prenol, and tax partner Jeff Trossman.
Akzo Nobel assistant general counsel Ben Schoordijk is leading the company’s in-house team on the deal. Sven Dumoulin is Akzo Nobel’s general counsel.
Hogan Lovells, meanwhile, is advising on the PPG side of the deal with a team led by corporate partners Elizabeth Donley and Glenn Campbell; tax partner Cristina Arumi; intellectual property partner Audrey Reed; employee benefits partner Carin Carithers; environmental partner Scott Reisch; and antitrust partner Janet McDavid.
