As Dow Chemical Co. closes in on a merger with Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont Co., the Midland, Mich.-based company has announced changes at the executive level.
Dow's North American president, Pedro Suarez, has been named chief commercial officer, taking over the role from Joe Harlan, who is retiring after the merger closes, according to a company statement released July 13.
Suarez joined Dow in 1979. He will remain in Chicago and report to Jim Fitterling, president and chief operating officer.
Dow's corporate vice president of public and government affairs, R. Matt Davis, will then add the post of president of North America region to his responsibilities. Davis joined the company in 1987. He will stay in Midland and report to Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO.
The changes are effective immediately.
Harlan joined Dow in 2011 after 30 years of leading businesses and commercial activities. He served in leadership roles at Boston-based General Electric for 20 years and at Saint Paul, Minnesota-based 3M for 16 years.
"I believe that we have successfully transformed Dow's commercial organization to a point where after 36 years of corporate life, it is an ideal time for me to start my retirement journey and the next exciting stages of my life," Harlan said in a written statement.
The Dow-DuPont merger, valued at $77 billion, is expected to close between Aug. 1 and Sept. 1, said company spokesman Jarrod Erpelding.
The chemical giants' merger has been pushed back several times, as regulatory agencies in the U.S. and abroad scrutinize the deal. When DuPont and Dow announced the merger in December of 2015, they expected it to close in the first half of 2016.