(MENAFN- AFP) A Dutch court Monday threw out a bid by a group of shareholders of AkzoNobel to force the holding of an extraordinary meeting aimed at trying to oust the chairman of the world's leading paintmaker.
In the latest round in AkzoNobel's increasingly bitter trans-Atlantic battle with US rival PPG, the Dutch Enterprise Chamber rejected a plea from activist investor Elliott Advisors.
Elliott and a minority of other shareholders had sought an extraordinary meeting to discuss the future of the chairman of the paint maker's board, Antony Burgmans, seen as the main obstacle to the PPG takeover bid.
AkzoNobel had refused to hold such a meeting, standing by Burgmans.
The court "declines the request by Elliott and others for urgent measures, including holding an extraordinary shareholders meeting with the sole agenda of axing of Antony Burgmans," judge Gijs Makkink said.
The decision now places the ball in PPG's court, which has to decide by Thursday, June 1, whether to launch a hostile takeover bid or, under Dutch law, back off for six months for a "cooling-off" period.
AkzoNobel, whose best-known brands include Dulux and Trimetal, earlier this month snubbed a third takeover offer by PPG -- which valued the company at around 24.6 billion euros ($27 billion).
By assuming the company's debts and minority interests, the total value of the transaction would come to 26.9 billion euros, PPG said.
AkzoNobel maintained the PPG bid undervalued the group and "contained significant risks and uncertainties" as well as failing to provide guarantees for its 46,000 workers.
It has also stood by Burgmans, saying dismissing him would be "irresponsible, disproportionate (and) damaging".
But PPG has argued that a takeover would create "extraordinary value and benefits for all of AkzoNobel's stakeholders".
PPG's chief executive Michael McGarry said last week the company preferred to negotiate a multi-billion-euro takeover of AkzoNobel, rather than mounting a hostile bid.
"PPG remains very interested in persuing a consensual, privately negotiated, substantive deal with AkzoNobel," he told journalists in Amsterdam.
He said PPG's board was likely to meet on Tuesday to discuss the enterprise chamber's decision.
Should PPG decide to go ahead, the bid will turn hostile as it will be without the approval of AkzoNobel's board of directors.
Based in Amsterdam, AkzoNobel was formed in 1994 from the merger of the Dutch and Swedish firms Akzo and Nobel.
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