ICI agrees to be bought by Akzo

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ICI, the chemicals company that was once a giant of British industry, has agreed to be taken over by its Dutch rival Akzo Nobel.

The agreed price is 670 pence per share, which values ICI at about Â£8bn.

Akzo has also agreed that Germany's Henkel will buy ICI's adhesives and electronic materials unit for Â£2.7bn.

The takeover will have to be cleared by regulators, who may be concerned that owning Crown and Dulux will give Akzo too much of the UK paint market.