Three Deals Reshaping the Top of the Industry
Three transactions are currently defining the industry landscape and will leave a lasting mark on its structure. In all three cases, the same underlying motive is at play: a shift away from the conglomerate model in favor of focused specialization or globally relevant scale.
BASF Coatings: A €7.7 Billion Carve-Out
The largest single deal in the DACH region’s paints and coatings sector is the sale of BASF’s coatings division to US financial investor Carlyle and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, QIA. The agreement was signed on October 10, 2025, and the EU Commission granted antitrust clearance on June 4, 2026. The Commission attached one condition: Carlyle must divest the global polysulfide business of its portfolio company Nouryon (Greiz plant). Nouryon is one of only two global suppliers of this key raw material for aerospace sealants, and since BASF Coatings itself, as a sealant manufacturer, is a major polysulfide buyer, Brussels saw a risk of anti-competitive vertical integration within Carlyle’s portfolio.
The divested division covers OEM automotive coatings, automotive refinish coatings, and surface technology, employing around 6,000 people with revenue of roughly €3.8 billion. BASF is retaining a 40% stake and will receive approximately €5.8 billion in cash. While the deal marks a strategic retreat by BASF from the more commodity-like end of the coatings business, Carlyle’s entry underscores its commitment to the paints and coatings industry as a distinct and attractive asset class in its own right.
AkzoNobel and Axalta: From Friendly Merger to Bidding War
Even more attention has been drawn by the planned merger of AkzoNobel and Axalta Coating Systems, announced on November 18, 2025. Structured as a merger of equals, AkzoNobel shareholders would hold 55% and Axalta shareholders 45% of the combined company. With combined revenue of around $17 billion and estimated synergies of $600 million, the deal would create a genuine global leader in the coatings industry.
In April 2026, Nippon Paint and Sherwin-Williams jointly attempted to derail the merger. Through two successive all-cash offers — the final one at €73 per AkzoNobel share, valuing the deal at €12.5 billion in total — the consortium pursued a hostile takeover. The plan: Nippon Paint would have taken over the decorative paints and industrial coatings divisions, while Sherwin-Williams would have taken automotive, marine, and powder coatings. AkzoNobel’s board rejected both offers, arguing they failed to adequately reflect the company’s value once Axalta synergies were factored in. On June 3, 2026, Nippon Paint and Sherwin-Williams officially announced they were abandoning their takeover bid.
The bidding war illustrates just how strategically significant the major listed coatings groups have become for international buyers — and how steep a premium they’re willing to pay to secure one.
Henkel and Stahl: Adhesives Expertise Meets Coatings Technology
The third major transaction brings together two seemingly different worlds: Henkel, known for adhesives and detergents, is acquiring coatings specialist Stahl for €2.1 billion. The announcement came on February 4, 2026. Stahl is the global market leader in coatings for flexible materials such as leather, paper, and packaging, and generated revenue of around €725 million in 2025 with roughly 1,700 employees. The company’s previous owner, French investment firm Wendel, is exiting its 68.5% majority stake after roughly 20 years of ownership — a textbook example of the “hold-and-grow” approach favored by continental European private equity firms.
Stahl CEO Maarten Heijbroek described the strategic rationale in an interview with European Coatings along these lines:
