London, Aug 9 - Dutch chemicals group Akzo Nobel has won a deadline extension for its 8 billion-pound ($16.3 billion) bid for Britain's Imperial Chemical Industries to Monday, the UK Takeover Panel said on Thursday.
The panel said that after consultations with both ICI and Akzo advisers it had ruled Akzo has to decide by 0900 GMT on Aug. 13 whether it would make a firm offer for ICI or walk away.
The extension comes after Akzo, which has teamed up with German consumer goods firm Henkel for the deal, started due diligence on the maker of Dulux paints early this month after raising its bid to 670 pence per share in cash plus up to 5 pence per share of dividend.
Akzo, the world's largest maker of industrial coatings, first proposed a bid at 600 pence a share for ICI in June, and then teamed up with Henkel, the maker of Persil detergents in Germany, for its last two proposals.