Gurmeet Chadha, Managing Partner and CIO at Complete Circle, believes this deal changes the game. “By this acquisition, it is already in top three, top four,” he said, pointing to the scale JSW will now have.
He also noted that Birla Opus Paints recently shared plans for an annual capacity of 1,100 million litres, making it the second-largest after Asian Paints, which leads with around 1,900 to 2,000 million litres. “Jindal will get aggressive,” Chadha added.
JSW Paints has agreed to acquire up to 74.76% of Akzo Nobel India from its parent company, Akzo Nobel N.V., and its related firms. The deal is valued at up to ₹8,986 crore, though the final figure may change depending on closing conditions, the company said in a stock exchange filing on June 27.
Chadha also sees a demand boost coming, especially with housing projects nearing completion in high-value markets like NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. That could drive demand for home improvement products, even as pricing pressure rises. Birla, for instance, already holds close to 6.8% market share.
Amnish Aggarwal, Director – Institutional Research at PL Capital, agrees the paints industry is entering a more competitive phase. With Birla pushing hard and JSW now stepping up through the Akzo acquisition, he expects a shake-up in market share over the next couple of years.
So far, Akzo Nobel has taken a relatively quiet approach to capturing market share. That’s likely to change under JSW, a group known for moving fast and competing hard.
But it won’t be all smooth sailing. Market expert Prakash Diwan thinks execution and integration will take time. “Till the time JSW digests this acquisition and consolidates… it will take some time to absorb this,” he said. During that period, Asian Paints and Berger might regain some lost ground, though he doesn’t expect the shift to be too dramatic.
In the long run, though, Diwan believes the deal could lift overall standards in the industry, encouraging better products and fiercer competition.
JSW brings its own advantages to the table, particularly its strong distribution reach through its steel and cement businesses. While Akzo already had a presence in 5,000 towns, JSW’s backing could help scale the business faster.
Diwan sees JSW potentially breaking into the top-three paints players in the next few years. And with competition heating up, consumers stand to benefit from better products and more choice—marking a major shift in a sector long dominated by a few big names.
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