Several amendments have been made to the proposed merger agreement between Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co., and its subsequent separation into three independent, publicly traded companies.
The two companies have agreed to extend the merger date to Aug. 31, and anticipate the transaction will close no earlier than the beginning of August, subject to regulatory approvals. Originally, the deal was expected to be finalized by the end of 2016.
It has been slowed down by the complexity of an asset swap between DuPont and FMC Corp.
EU regulators required some pesticide and polymer assets to be sold before it would give the merger the go-ahead. As a result, in a $1.6 billion deal, DuPont is selling herbicides and insecticides to FMC, and acquiring food and pharmaceutical ingredients plus a large cash payment in return.
“[The] transaction enables us to satisfy the European Commission's approval conditions, while maintaining the strategic logic and value creation potential of our merger and the three independent companies we intend to create,” said Edward Breen, chairman and CEO of DuPont.
The first of the independent companies to be spun off is expected to be the materials science company. This will keep the Dow name, and include the polyurethane and thermoplastics operations. The other two businesses will focus on specialty products and agriculture.