Private investment firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC is in discussions to form a consortium with paint maker PPG Industries Inc. that would make an acquisition bid for coatings company Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The consortium would include Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte. Ltd. and U.S. asset manager BlackRock Inc., one of the sources reportedly said.
Axalta has attracted interest from other buyout groups, with some of them planning to make a joint acquisition offer for the company, three sources told Reuters.
Platinum Equity LLC has been in talks with Koch Industries Inc. to jointly bid for Axalta, although such an offer may not result in a deal, one of the sources added.
Axalta, whose biggest stockholder is Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has a market capitalization of $7.3 billion and long-term debt of about $4 billion, sources said.
Axalta, PPG, Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Platinum Equity did not comment on the matter, while GIC, BlackRock and Koch did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
