Dutch paint, coatings and chemicals group AkzoNobel has rejected a €54 per share offer from US-based paint and coatings company PPG.

Instead, AkzoNobel is considering hiving off its specialty chemicals division, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

PPG’s offer is €54 per share plus 0.3 of a PPG share. AkzoNobel termed the offer ‘unwelcome’, saying it substantially undervalued the business.

‘The unsolicited proposal we received from PPG substantially undervalues our company and contains serious risks and uncertainties,’ said chief executive Ton Büchner. ‘The proposal is not in the interest of AkzoNobel’s stakeholders, including its shareholders, customers and employees, and we have unanimously rejected it.’

The company is however weighing the possibility of splitting off the specialty chemicals unit which generates one-third (€4.8bn) of total revenues and contains the old core of the company: salt and chlorine.

AkzoNobel said the split had been under consideration for some time but that the attempted takeover by PPG had served to speed up the process. The company will now concentrate on decorative paints and performance coatings and expand their leading market positions.

The gobal coatings business is dominated by 10 companies – including AkzoNobel and PPG – which control 57% of the market. About 7,500 companies vie for the remainder.