Companies are generally loathe to comment on a pending merger, especially deals that that require regulatory approval.
But Valspar and Sherwin-Williams have had to issue statements twice now to quell market rumors.
On March 20, the companies announced that Sherwin-Williams, the largest paint company in the country, would acquire Valspar, the fourth largest paint company, in a $11.3 billion deal. At that time, they said they expected the deal to close by the end of the first quarter of 2017.
At the time of the announcement, officials knew that in order for the deal to gain regulatory approval they would have to divest some assets of Valspar or Sherwin-Williams. The ultimate purchase price will be dependent in part on how much the companies will be required to divest.
Sherwin-Williams, based in Cleveland, is paying $113 cash for Valspar shares, but if theyare required to divest more than $650 million in net sales then the deal price would fall to $105 per share.
Companies facing that situation don't disclose information until they are required to do so, and as a result they are usually pretty closed mouthed about deals until they are finalized.
So it's unusual that on Monday Valspar and Sherwin-Williams issued a joint statement for the second time in response to rumors about the deal. On Monday a New York Post story quoted unnamed sources that the Federal Trade Commission has been aggressively vetting the deal and may require more actions before approving it.
Later Sherwin-Williams and Valspar issued a response that said they were cooperating with the FTC and that they still expected the deal to close in the first quarter of 2017.
