Hard sale

18 June 2007 By Una Galani Follow @ugalani

Sure, the Dutch group s offer wasn t stingy, given recent sector deals. And it probably can t pay a lot more without destroying value. But ICI is in recovery mode and may have good news to tell. And even if ICI no longer commands prestige value, it still has scarcity value.

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Imperial Chemical Industries on Monday rejected an indicative 600p per share cash offer from Dutch rival Akzo Nobel. The board of ICI unanimously rejected the offer, which values Britain's biggest chemicals company at £7.2bn (E10.7bn), stating the bid significantly undervalues ICI.

Akzo Nobel is the world's largest coatings company by sales and 9% market share. A combination between Akzo and ICI would have approximately 15%, leaving the group with a top 3 position in almost all major product segments and regions.

ICI shares traded up 15.6% midmorning at 640p.

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