Leading shareholders in ICI have backed the board’s decision to reject a £7.2bn takeover proposal from Dutch conglomerate Akzo Nobel and said any offer should be above 700p given the synergies involved. Akzo left the door open, saying while ICI was “a highly attractive addition”, it would not overpay. Akzo is likely to return with a higher offer but a second bid would have to be more attractive to shareholders to fend off potential bids from rival chemical companies including BASF, Dow Chemical and DuPont. ICI shares jumped 15.5 per cent to close at 634½p on Monday after ICI confirmed it had rejected the £7.2bn proposal. Lex says that with its existing business plan supporting a higher valuation, Akzo able – though not necessarily willing – to pay more and with other potential suitors in the wings, ICI is right to hold out.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 at 5:51 and is filed under Capital markets, M&A. Tagged with akzo nobel, basf, dow chemical, dupont, ici. Edit this entry.