Shareholders of Akzo Nobel N.V. (AkzoNobel) have approved the separation of its Specialty Chemicals business as part of its strategy to create two focused, high-performing businesses: Paints and Coatings and Specialty Chemicals.

The appointment of new Chief Financial Officer Maarten de Vries as a member of the board of management, effective Jan. 1, 2018, also was approved at a special meeting yesterday, in addition to the appointment of three new members to the AkzoNobel Supervisory Board: Sue Clark, Patrick Thomas and Michiel Jaski.

Shareholder approval enables AkzoNobel to separate its Specialty Chemicals business through a private sale or legal demerger. The dual-track process ensures the appropriate flexibility necessary to obtain an optimal result for shareholders and other stakeholders as well as certainty of execution.

As previously announced, AkzoNobel intends to return the vast majority of the net proceeds from the separation of Specialty Chemicals to its shareholders – starting with advance proceeds of  €1 billion (approximately $1.19 billion USD) through a special cash dividend. The special dividend will be paid on Dec. 7.

Thierry Vanlancker, CEO, said, “We welcome Maarten de Vries to AkzoNobel. With his extensive international business experience he will further strengthen the leadership of our company. Today marks a significant milestone in the transformation of AkzoNobel into two focused high-performing businesses, which remains on track for April 2018.”

Antony Burgmans, chairman of the supervisory board, added, “[Yesterday’s] approval ensures we maintain momentum in the process to separate our Specialty Chemicals business. Our new appointments bring a wealth of new insight and experience to our boards, supporting AkzoNobel to deliver sustainable growth and value creation.”