Nippon Paint Holdings Co.'s shareholders voted on Wednesday to hand over of a majority of the company's board to Singapore's Wuthelam Group.

Six of the 10 board members approved at a general meeting in Osaka were chosen by Wuthelam, Nippon Paint's largest shareholder and a longtime business partner. They include Wuthelam executive Goh Hup Jin. Tetsushi Tado, president of the Japanese firm, was also retained on the board.

Wuthelam had pushed for the management reshuffle after Nippon Paint in November attempted to acquire U.S. competitor Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. for ¥1 trillion (at the time around $8.9 billion).