The end of an era for an iconic British company was reached yesterday when Dulux paintmaker Imperial Chemical Industries officially fell into the hands of new Dutch owner Akzo Nobel.

The company will delist from the London market today following the completion of Akzo Nobel's £8 billion takeover, ending 82 years of independence for ICI.

ICI's departure also represents the passing of one of the original constituents of the FTSE 100 Index in 1984. It had also been an inaugural member of the FT30, which was established as far back as 1935.

It is unclear if the ICI brand will survive, with the Dutch firm yet to decide on the corporate identity of its new acquisition.

However, the Amsterdam-headquartered group is confident that the company's Dulux brand will remain, as will ICI's US paint arm, Glidden.

Tim van der Zanden, spokesman for the Dutch firm, said a decision on ICI will be made in the next couple of months, but stressed it was putting aside emotions surrounding one of Britain's iconic corporate brands.

"There's a lot of work and research going into the decision, because we don't want it to based on emotion, but on best value for the company," he said.

Akzo detailed just before Christmas how ICI will be integrated into the firm, with a new decorative paints division being launched following the acquisition. Dulux Paints operates from sites at Slough, Stoke Poges and Stow-market, Suffolk.

Akzo owns Dulux competitor Crown Paints, but will have to sell the brand in the UK and Ireland as part of its deal with the European Commission to secure clearance for the ICI takeover.

It has also struck a deal to sell ICI's adhesives and electronic materials business to German chemicals firm Henkel, the maker of Persil washing detergent, for £2.7 billion.

Dulux has become a household name, thanks in part to the Dulux dog advertising triumph, which started with the old English sheepdog Shepton Dash in 1963.

But ICI's many former successes are largely forgotten now, following years of restructuring, mergers and acquisitions.

It was credited with developing the anti-malarial drug Paludrine and for inventing Polythene and Perspex, seeing some of its scientists awarded the Nobel Prize.

Other life-changing product innovations followed as ICI entered the 1960s, but the group was forced to overhaul its strategy after the recession of the early 1990s.

It demerged its agricultural and pharmaceutical business Zeneca - now part of AstraZeneca - in 1993 and made around 50 disposals over the following five years.

It then bought Unilever's chemicals business for nearly £5 billion in 1997 - a move which left ICI saddled with debt as it struggled to sell on the operation.

Chief executive John McAdam has helped turn the firm around since his appointment in 2003 after a series of profits warnings and he has since refocused ICI on paints, adhesives and starches.