United States. DuPont and The Dow Chemical Company announced that they have reached a proposed agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division that will allow the companies to proceed with their peer-to-peer merger project.
"We are very pleased that the Department of Justice has approved this transaction," said Andrew Liveris, Dow's president and chief executive officer. "With DOJ approval, we have taken a significant step forward in bringing these two iconic companies together, and in the subsequent intended separation into three leading, independent companies in innovation science that will generate significant benefits for all stakeholders."
In connection with the proposed agreement and in line with commitments already signed to obtain regulatory approval from the European Commission, DuPont will divest certain parts of its crop protection portfolio and Dow will divest its global equine acrylic copolymer and ionomer business.
The proposed settlement with the Justice Department, which remains subject to court approval, does not require companies to make additional divestments. With this agreement, no further approvals are required in the United States to close the merger.
The companies reiterated that the merger transaction is expected to generate cost synergies of approximately $3 billion and growth synergies of approximately $1 billion.
To date, Dow and DuPont have obtained authorization in many jurisdictions, including approvals in the United States, Europe, Brazil and China. The companies are working constructively with regulators in the remaining jurisdictions to obtain approval for the merger and are making progress in meeting the requirements of conditional approvals that have already been received.
The companies reaffirmed their expectation to close the merger in August 2017, with spin-offs set to occur within 18 months of closing.
