By Oliver Griffin

Akzo Nobel NV (AKZA.AE) Chief Executive Thierry Vanlancker said Wednesday that the company's shareholders appeared to prefer a divestiture of its specialty chemical business rather than a private sale or an initial public offering.

Mr. Vanlancker, who was presenting Akzo Nobel's third-quarter results--which saw a drop in both net profit and earnings before interest and tax compared with a year earlier--said that based on discussions with shareholders, it seemed they were "leaning towards" the divestiture or a demerger of Akzo Nobel's specialty chemicals business. He added that talks of a separate IPO had dropped off the radar.

Akzo Nobel said it would hold an extraordinary general meeting in November to obtain approval for the separation of its specialty chemicals business.

The company reiterated its intention to return the majority of net proceeds generated by the split to shareholders, including via a special cash dividend worth 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion).

Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 18, 2017 06:05 ET (10:05 GMT)

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