The scope of the sale includes BASF’s furniture foil and panels coatings division.

The company’s foil coatings – developed in the 1970s – are coatings on special paper to imitate the appearance of wood and are used on shelves, tables, cupboards, doors and floors. They are designed to provide a quicker finishing process than coating three-dimensional furniture.

BASF’s panel coatings products are used for wood fibreboard panels in applications including walls and ceilings panelling, furniture and doors. They include waterborne products all the way to radiation-curable coatings. BASF and AkzoNobel intend to finalise and sign detailed transaction documents in due course.

The planned transaction is subject to the required consultation with employee representatives and certain regulatory approvals.

BASF and AkzoNobel intend to complete the transaction by the end of 2016.