The August 5, 2026 vote clears a decisive milestone toward creating the world’s largest automotive coatings group.

August 5, 2026 will stand as a landmark date in the global automotive coatings industry. Axalta Coating Systems shareholders voted 99.97% in favour of the merger with AkzoNobel at their special meeting. In contrast, AkzoNobel shareholders simultaneously approved all merger-related resolutions at their Extraordinary General Meeting in Amsterdam. In absolute terms, the resolution received 178,601,654 votes for and just 55,032 against.

What remains before closing

Despite this overwhelming result, the merger will not be finalized before late 2026 or early 2027. Both companies must still obtain the required antitrust regulatory approvals in the United States, Europe and China — a process that can take several months. AkzoNobel’s CEO and future CEO of the combined entity, Greg Poux-Guillaume, hailed the vote as “a significant milestone towards bringing together two highly complementary businesses.”

For Canadian collision repairers and distributors

In the short term, nothing changes: contracts, supply chains, field teams and brand programs for Axalta (Cromax, Spies Hecker, Standox) and AkzoNobel (Sikkens, Lesonal, Wanda) remain unchanged until the official close. Canada’s automotive coatings market now centers on three major independent players: the new AkzoNobel-Axalta entity, Surventis (formerly BASF Coatings, independent since July 1), and PPG.