Rewrites top, adds context and share price.

By Anton Bridge

July 13 (Reuters) - Nippon Paint 4612.T has offered to buy AkzoNobel's AKZO.AS decorative paints business for €7.5 billion ($8.55 billion), the company said on Monday, a month after it withdrew an offer to buy the whole firm along with U.S.-based Sherwin-Williams SHW.N for €12.5 billion.

AkzoNobel, which makes the Dulux brand of paints, rejected Nippon Paint and Sherwin-Williams' earlier offer in May, pushing ahead instead with its plan to merge with U.S. coatings maker Axalta AXTA.N.

Paint makers are pursuing mergers to save money amid rising costs, intense competition, and uncertainty sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported goods.

AkzoNobel did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. No specific matters regarding the acquisition have been decided, Nippon Paint said.

The approach was first reported by Bloomberg News on Sunday. Nippon Paint made multiple offers in the last month, but AkzoNobel did not inform shareholders, nor engage on the €7.5 billion proposal that was put forward last week, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

In May, AkzoNobel said Nippon Paint and Sherwin-Williams' offer to take over the entire firm undervalued its business, lacked certainty on regulatory clearances and would split the company between two suitors.

Merging with Axalta would bring cost savings of $600 million and enable the combined entity to focus more on coatings, which are more resilient in a consumer downturn than decorative paints, Chief Executive Greg Poux-Guillaume said in an interview with Reuters in 2025.

Poux-Guillaume would remain as the group's chief executive following the merger.

AkzoNobel and Axalta are set to hold shareholder meetings to vote on the Axalta tie-up on August 5.

Nippon Paint shares fell around 3.8% on Monday afternoon, trading at around 1,033 yen per share.

($1 = 0.8775 euros)