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Abu Dhabi-backed firm in $560m deal with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire

US private equity firm Carlyle has sold a 8.7% stake in paint maker Axalta Coating Systems

Paint maker Axalta Coating Systems Ltd said Berkshire Hathaway Inc would buy an 8.7 percent stake in the company from controlling shareholder Carlyle Group for $560 million.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire is buying 20 million shares at $28 per share.

Carlyle, the US private equity firm in which Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company owns a 7.5 percent stake, held about 170.3 million shares, or a 74.1 percent stake, in Axalta as of December 31, according to a regulatory filing.

Axalta, the Dupont unit which Carlyle bought for $4.9 billion in February 2013, makes liquid and powder coatings for the automotive and transportation industries.

Berkshire bought lubricants maker Lubrizol Corp for about $9 billion in 2011.

Carlyle had considered selling Axalta, which went public in November, to Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel NV just after Axalta filing for the IPO, Bloomberg reported in September.

Buffett signaled last year that he planned to make more large acquisitions for Berkshire to expand his conglomerate.

“Berkshire is the type of quality investor that Axalta has been fortunate to attract since our IPO last year,” Axalta chief executive Charlie Shaver said.

Axalta’s shares, which closed at $28.33 on Monday, have risen 45 percent since their debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Carlyle Group was founded in 1987. Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala bought its 7.5 percent stake the company in 2007.

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