Akzo Nobel N.V

Base Prospectus dated 11 March 2019 AKZO NOBEL N.V. (incorporated in the Netherlands as a public company with limited liability having its corporate seat in Amsterdam) Euro Medium Term Note Programme Under the Euro Medium Term Note Programme described in this Prospectus (the “Programme”), Akzo Nobel N.V. (“AkzoNobel” or the “Issuer”) subject to compliance with all relevant laws, regulations and directives, may from time to time issue Euro Medium Term Notes (the “Notes”). Application has been made to the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (the “CSSF”) in its capacity as competent authority under the Luxembourg Act dated 10 July 2005 relating to prospectuses for securities (the “Luxembourg Law”), for the approval of this Prospectus as a base prospectus for the purposes of Article 5.4 of Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended (the “Prospectus Directive”). Such application does not extend to money market instruments (as defined in the Prospectus Directive) having a maturity of less than one year. By approving this Prospectus, the CSSF does not give any undertaking as to the economic or financial soundness of the operation or the quality or solvency of the Issuer in line with the provisions of article 7(7) of the Luxembourg Law. Application has also been made to the Luxembourg Stock Exchange for the Notes issued under the Programme to be admitted to the official list of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (the “Official List”) and to be admitted to trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s regulated market. References in this Prospectus to Notes being “listed” (and all related references) shall mean that such Notes have been admitted to the Official List and admitted to trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s regulated market. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s regulated market is a regulated market for the purposes of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on markets in financial instruments. However, unlisted Notes may be issued pursuant to the Programme. The relevant Final Terms in respect of the issue of any Notes will specify whether or not such Notes will be listed on the Official List and admitted to trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s regulated market (or any other stock exchange). Notes having a maturity of less than one year which must be considered as money market instruments within the meaning of Art. 2(1)(i) of the Luxembourg Law are not subject to the CSSF’s approval under Part II of the Luxembourg Law, but shall require the CSSF’s approval on a simplified prospectus under Part III of the Luxembourg Law if they are intended to be offered to the public in Luxembourg. Each Series (as defined in “General Description of the Programme – Method of Issue”) of Notes in bearer form will be represented on issue by a temporary global note in bearer form (each a “temporary Global Note”) or a permanent global note in bearer form (each a “permanent Global Note” and, together with a temporary Global Note, the “Global Notes”). If the Global Notes are stated in the applicable Final Terms (as defined in “General Description of the Programme – Method of Issue”) to be issued in new global note (“NGN”) form, the Global Notes will be delivered on or prior to the original issue date of the relevant Tranche (as defined in “General Description of the Programme – Method of Issue”) to a common safekeeper (the “Common Safekeeper”) for Euroclear Bank SA/NV (“Euroclear”) and Clearstream Banking S.A. (“Clearstream, Luxembourg”). Notes in registered form will be represented by registered certificates (each a “Certificate”), one Certificate being issued in respect of each Noteholder’s entire holding of Registered Notes of one Series. Registered Notes (as defined in “General Description of the Programme – Form of Notes”) issued in global form will be represented by registered global certificates (“Global Certificates”). If a Global Certificate is held under the New Safekeeping Structure (the “NSS”) the Global Certificate will be delivered on or prior to the original issue date of the relevant Tranche to a Common Safekeeper for Euroclear and Clearstream, Luxembourg. Global Notes which are not issued in NGN form (“Classic Global Notes” or “CGNs”) and Global Certificates which are not held under the NSS will be deposited on the issue date of the relevant Tranche with (i) in the case of a Series of Notes intended to be cleared through Euroclear and/or Clearstream, Luxembourg, a common depositary on behalf of Euroclear and Clearstream, Luxembourg or (ii) in the case of a Series of Notes intended to be cleared through the Central Moneymarkets Unit Service, operated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (the “CMU”, and such Notes, “CMU Notes”)), with a sub-custodian for the CMU. The provisions governing the exchange of interests in Global Notes for other Global Notes and definitive Notes are described in “Overview of Provisions relating to the Notes while in Global Form”. As at the date of this Prospectus, AkzoNobel has a long term senior unsecured debt rating of “BBB+” by Standard & Poor’s Credit Market Services Europe Limited (“S&P”) and “Baa1” by Moody’s Investors Service Limited (“Moody’s”). The Programme has been rated “BBB+” by S&P and “Baa1” by Moody’s. Each of Moody’s and S&P is established in the European Union (the “EU”) and is registered under Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on credit rating agencies as amended (the “CRA Regulation”). Further information relating to the registration of rating agencies under the CRA Regulation can be found on the website of the European Securities and Markets Authority. Notes issued pursuant to the Programme may be rated or unrated. Where an issue of Notes is rated, its rating will be specified in the relevant Final Terms and may not necessarily be the same as the rating of the Programme. Whether or not a rating in relation to any Notes will be treated as having been issued by a credit rating agency established in the EU and registered under the CRA Regulation will be disclosed in the relevant Final Terms. A rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold Notes and may be subject to suspension, reduction or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating agency. A suspension, reduction or withdrawal of the rating assigned to any Notes may adversely affect the market price of the Notes. Prospective investors should have regard to the factors described under the section headed “Risk Factors” in this Prospectus. Arranger for the Programme NATWEST MARKETS Dealers BOFA MERRILL LYNCH BARCLAYS BNP PARIBAS CITIGROUP DEUTSCHE BANK HSBC ING J.P. MORGAN MIZUHO SECURITIES MORGAN STANLEY NATWEST MARKETS SANTANDER CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANKING SEB SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANKING ii In this Prospectus, references to the “Issuer” are to AkzoNobel and references to “Group” are to AkzoNobel and its subsidiaries and affiliates taken as a whole and references in this Prospectus to the “Issuer” and the “Group” shall be construed accordingly. This Prospectus comprises a base prospectus for the purposes of Article 5.4 of Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended, to the extent that such amendments have been implemented in the relevant Member State of the European Economic Area (the “Prospectus Directive”) in respect of the Issuer and for the purpose of giving information with regard to the Issuer, the Group and the Notes which, according to the particular nature of the Issuer and the Notes, is necessary to enable investors to make an informed assessment of the assets and liabilities, financial position, profit and losses and prospects of the Issuer. MIFID II product governance / target market – The Final Terms in respect of any Notes may include a legend entitled “MiFID II Product Governance” which will outline the target market assessment in respect of the Notes and which channels for distribution of the Notes are appropriate. Any person subsequently offering, selling or recommending the Notes (a “distributor”) should take into consideration the target market assessment; however, a distributor subject to Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, “MiFID II”) is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Notes (by either adopting or refining the target market assessment) and determining appropriate distribution channels. A determination will be made in relation to each issue about whether, for the purpose of the MiFID Product Governance rules under EU Delegated Directive 2017/593 (the “MiFID Product Governance Rules”), any Dealer subscribing for any Notes is a manufacturer in respect of such Notes, but otherwise neither the Arranger nor the Dealers nor any of their respective affiliates will be a manufacturer for the purpose of the MiFID Product Governance Rules. IMPORTANT – EEA RETAIL INVESTORS – If the Final Terms in respect of any Notes includes a legend entitled “Prohibition of Sales to EEA Retail Investors”, the Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area (“EEA”). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (A) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; (B) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2002/92/EC (as amended, the “IMD”), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (C) not a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive. Consequently no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (as amended, the “PRIIPs Regulation”) for offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation.

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