Corn Products International, a leading global provider of ingredient solutions for diversified industries, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire National Starch, a New Jersey-based global provider of specialty starches, from AkzoNobel, the largest global coatings and specialty chemicals company, headquartered in The Netherlands.

The transaction, which has been approved by the Boards of both AkzoNobel and Corn Products International, is expected to close at the end of the third quarter of 2010, subject to the appropriate regulatory approvals.

Corn Products International is a leading global provider of ingredient solutions for diversified industries based in Westchester, Illinois, in the US.

National Starch – a subsidiary of the former ICI – was taken over by AkzoNobel as part of its acquisition of ICI in January 2008. While it was regarded as an excellent business, the Board of AkzoNobel concluded that National Starch did not offer sufficient opportunity to create value within the company’s transformed coatings and specialty chemicals portfolio. In April 2010, it was announced that AkzoNobel had received renewed expressions of interest in National Starch, which had accordingly been reclassified as a discontinued operation.

Commenting on the divestment, CEO Hans Wijers said: “I am pleased that we have found a respected company to be the new home of National Starch, where it will once again be a core operation. This transaction today marks the strong focus on our core business and confirms AkzoNobel’s transformation into the world’s largest global coatings and specialty chemicals company.”

National Starch had 2009 revenue of $1.2 billion from sales of specialty starches to both local and multinational customers in the food, papermaking, consumer and industrial markets. It has 2,250 employees around the world and operates 11 plants in eight countries.