AkzoNobel Selling ICI Pakistan

AkzoNobel has agreed to sell its 75.8% stake in ICI Pakistan to the local firm Yunus Brothers Group for $152.5 million.

ICI Pakistan makes polyester fiber, soda ash, and chemicals. It generated sales of $450 million in 2011. AkzoNobel acquired the business through its 2008 purchase of ICI.

Last Month, AkzoNobel completed the separation of ICI Pakistan’s coatings business into a separate company, called AkzoNobel Pakistan, in which it will retain a 75.8% stake. That unit generated about $80 million in sales last year. AkzoNobel first announced its intention to break up ICI Pakistan in April 2011 as a means to focus its Pakistani business on those operations that fit better into AkzoNobel globally.

The sale price for ICI Pakistan represents a premium of 30% over what the firm was trading for on local stock exchanges at the end of last week. AkzoNobel expects the deal to close by the end of the year, after regulatory clearance and a requirement that Yunus Brothers buys 50% of the shares not held by AkzoNobel in a tender offer.

Yunus Brothers is a Pakistani conglomerate that has businesses in the cement, textile, power, and real estate sectors. It had about $950 million in sales in 2011. “The Yunus Brothers Group is keen to further develop the business of the company, working closely with the existing management and employees,” says Sohail Tabba, group director of the company.