June 19, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 03, 1428

LONDON, June 18: British chemicals group Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) said on Monday that it had rejected a takeover offer of 7.2 billion pounds (10.7 billion euros, 14.3 billion dollars) from Dutch rival Akzo Nobel.

“ICI Group can confirm that on June 4 it received an indicative proposal under which Akzo Nobel would acquire ICI for 600p per share in cash,” a group statement said.

“The board of ICI considered this proposal and unanimously rejected it on the grounds that it significantly undervalues ICI,” it added.

Akzo Nobel, which owns Crown Paints in Britain, said it believed that ICI would represent a highly attractive addition to its business following its sale of healthcare business Organon BioSciences for 11 billion euros ($14.7 billion) to US rival Schering-Plough in March.

“Akzo Nobel will continue to evaluate all strategic opportunities, including ICI, based on a disciplined and value-driven approach to earnings and returns over cost of capital,” the Dutch group said in a separate statement.—AFP