Mar 27, 2018

Carlyle buying Akzo Nobel's chemical biz for $12.5 billion

Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubeinstein. Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images.

The Carlyle Group and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC have agreed to acquire the specialty chemicals unit of Akzo Nobel for approximately $12.5 billion (including debt).

Why it's a big deal: Mega-buyouts are back, regardless of sector, geography or record-high public equity prices.

Plus, this one has some interesting history in that Carlyle quick-flipped Axalta Coatings, which last fall discussed a mergerwith Akzo Nobel.

Bottom line, per WSJ's Ben Dummett: "Akzo’s chemicals are used in a wide range of products from plastic bags to solar panels. The sale is a key part of the Amsterdam-based manufacturer’s plan to boost its share price to appease Elliott Management, the U.S. activist hedge fund, and other shareholders after successfully fending off a $27.6 billion takeover bid last year from U.S. rival PPG Industries"

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New Zealand sets sights on coronavirus elimination after 2 weeks of lockdown

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New Zealand has flattened the curve of novel coronavirus cases after two weeks of lockdown and the next phase is to "squash it," professor Shaun Hendy, who heads a scientific body advising the government on COVID-19, told Axios.

Why it matters: Te Pūnaha Matatini, the Center of Research Excellence hosted by the University of Auckland of which Hendy is director, released research Thursday showing there could've been hundreds more Covid-19 cases were it not for the lockdown — and there's a good chance the strict measures will help stamp out the virus.

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The novel coronavirus has now killed more than 2,000 people for the second day in a row, and it's infected more than 432,000 others, per Johns Hopkins data.

Where it stands: More than 14,800 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. — including over 4,500 in New York. The state's death toll surged to its highest one-day total on Wednesday — beating the previous day's record. 779 people died in New York in 24 hours. The state has reported more cases than the most-affected countries in Europe.

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Global: Total confirmed cases as of 1 a.m. ET: 1,484,811 — Total deaths: 88,538 — Total recoveries: 329,876 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 1 a.m. ET: 432,132 — Total deaths: 14,817 — Total recoveries: 23,906 — Map.
Federal government latest: Top Trump administration officials had been developing a plan to give cloth masks to huge numbers of Americans, but the idea lost traction amid heavy internal skepticism.
States latest: New York has reported more cases than the most-affected countries in Europe. Chicago's Cook County jail is largest-known source of coronavirus in U.S.
Business: One-third of U.S. jobs are at risk of disappearing, mostly affecting low-income workers.
World: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to put politics aside "if you don’t want to have many more body bags.”
Environment: COVID-19 is underscoring the connection between air pollution and dire outcomes from respiratory diseases.
Tech: A new report recommends stimulus spending to help close the digital divide revealed by social distancing.
What should I do? Pets, moving and personal health — Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

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