US regulator clears pending DowDuPont merger

HOUSTON (ICIS)–DuPont and Dow Chemical have reached a proposed agreement with the antitrust division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), allowing the companies to proceed with their proposed $130bn merger, Dow said on Thursday.

The merger is expected to close in August, Dow said. The intended spin-offs should occur within 18 months of closing. Those spin offs will result in a material-sciences company, an agrochemical company and a specialty-chemicals company.

The proposed deal follows European agreements the two companies made, relating to divestments for parts of DuPont’s global crop protection portfolio and research and development (R&D) pipeline and organisation.

Dow said it will divest its global ethylene acrylic acid copolymers and ionomers business, in line with commitment made to several global regulators.

The proposed DOJ agreement is still subject to court approval, Dow noted, but does not require the companies to make any additional divestitures. No further approvals are required in the US for the merger to close, Dow stated.

As previously reported, the companies expect the merger transaction to generate cost synergies of approximately $3bn and growth synergies of approximately $1bn

The companies stated they are working with regulators in remaining jurisdictions to obtain clearance for the merger, and are making progress in fulfilling the requirements of the conditional approvals that have already been received.