Chemical maker DuPont is considering the sale of its lucrative auto and vehicle paint business and has hired Credit Suisse Group AG to advise on the sale, according to sources familiar with the matter.The performance coatings business primarily sells to Maaco and other auto paint refinishers. Ford and General Motors are also key customers, though selling to so-called original equipment manufacturers (OEM) is not as lucrative.The sale could net DuPont $3 billion to $4 billion, one of the sources said.DuPont could sell just the OEM component, keeping the more-lucrative paint refinishing business, said Telly Zachariades, a chemical industry mergers and acquisition specialist at the Valence Group who is not involved in the deal.
Credit Suisse Group AG (Credit Suisse) is a financial services company. Shares of CS fell by 2.93% or $-0.93/share to $30.86. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $22.23 and as high as $47.63. On average, 2908490 shares of CS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2775191.
