The Sherwin-Williams Company and The Valspar Corporation announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sherwin-Williams will acquire Valspar for $113 per share in an all-cash transaction, or an enterprise value of approximately $11.3 billion.

At $113 per share, the transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, represents a premium of approximately 41% to Valspar's volume weighted average price for the 30 days up to and including March 18, 2016.

John G. Morikis, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Sherwin-Williams Company, said, "Valspar is an excellent strategic fit with Sherwin-Williams.  The combination expands our brand portfolio and customer relationships in North America, significantly strengthens our Global Finishes business, and extends our capabilities into new geographies and applications, including a scale platform to grow in Asia-Pacific and EMEA.  Customers of both companies will benefit from our increased product range, enhanced technology and innovation capabilities, and the transaction's clearly defined cost synergies. We have tremendous respect for the expertise and dedication of the Valspar team and we are excited about the opportunities that this combination will provide to both companies' employees.  Sherwin-Williams will continue to be headquartered in Cleveland and we intend to maintain a significant presence in Minneapolis."

Morikis added: "Sherwin-Williams has a long track record of successfully integrating acquisitions. We are highly confident in the industrial logic of the transaction and, once closed, our ability to achieve $280 million of estimated annual synergies in the areas of sourcing, SG&A and process and efficiency savings within two years and our long-term annual synergy target of $320 million.  We expect this transaction to be immediately accretive excluding one-time costs and meaningfully enhance our cash flow generation profile."

Gary E. Hendrickson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Valspar, said, "We are pleased to announce this compelling transaction, which delivers immediate and certain cash value to our stockholders. We believe that Sherwin-Williams is the right partner to utilize our array of brands and create a premier global coatings company. The combination of Sherwin-Williams and Valspar will benefit our customers, employees and other stakeholders. We are confident this transaction will create opportunities to accelerate many of the operating initiatives already underway at Valspar. We look forward to positioning Valspar to enter its next phase of growth and success and to working closely with Sherwin-Williams to seamlessly close this transaction.  Together we will continue to build on the solid momentum our team has worked so hard to create."

Citi acted as the lead financial advisor to Sherwin-Williams and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC also acted as financial advisor.  Jones Day and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP are acting as legal advisors to Sherwin-Williams.  Goldman Sachs and BofA Merrill Lynch are acting as financial advisors to Valspar and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is acting as its legal advisor.