Paint giants Valspar Corp. and Sherwin-Williams Co. postponed their marriage until June on Tuesday, noting that the companies need more time to satisfy regulators' divestiture requirements that are now part of the acquisition plans.
Sherwin-Williams' purchase of Valspar — for $113 per share — is now expected to close June 21, instead of the original March 21 date or the revised April time frame, company officials announced.
Ohio-based Sherwin-Williams reported weeks ago that it expected the Federal Trade Commission to require some sort of divestiture from Valspar's portfolio before regulators would approve the acquisition, which was originally priced around $11.3 billion.
Details of the divestiture are not known. What is known is that the pending divestiture is expected to represent less than the previously set threshold of $650 million of Valspar revenue for 2015. While company officials thought the deal could close by April, they now say that is not likely and so revised the closing dates.
"We continue to move forward on the divestiture of a single business that we believe will allow us to gain approval from the FTC, and we are in discussions with a number of prospective buyers," said Sherwin-Williams CEO John Morikis. "We remain confident in our ability to complete the divestiture at a fair price, and we look forward to unlocking the value of the combined business when the Valspar acquisition closes."
Valspar's stock closed Tuesday at $110.81 a share, down 69 cents. Sherwin-Williams' stock was down $4.18 a share to close at $307.95.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
