March 27, 2018—AkzoNobel announced today the sale of 100 percent of its speciality chemicals business to The Carlyle Group and GIC for $12.5 billion.

“We decided last year to build a focused paint and coatings company," said Joost Ruempol, spokesperson for AkzoNobel. "And to get to that point we needed to sell our chemicals business.”

The transaction creates a business for AkzoNobel solely focused on paint and coatings, according to the AkzoNobel press release. This is part of the company's strategy announced in April 2017 to better develop its paint and coatings unit. The plan included the separation of speciality chemicals within 12 months and majority of net proceeds returned to shareholders.

“Our strategy is aiming to get more profitability by only focusing on paint and coatings," Ruempol said.