Dow and DuPont agree to divest businesses to win merger approval

Midland, Michigan – In their bid to secure EU approval for their planned merger, Dow Chemical and DuPont have offered to sell part of DuPont's crop protection business and Dow's acid copolymers and ionomers business.

Online reports cited Dow officials stating the two US companies have submitted a remedy package to the European Commission’s competition regulators to answer their concerns regarding overlapping businesses.

The European Commission’s deadline for review has been extended until 4 April, according to reports by Reuters and other news agencies. Dow and DuPont expect the merger to close in the first half of 2017 with the planned divestments to occur about 18 months after closing.

The merger was first announced in December 2015 but closing of the deal has been delayed as the European Commission has investigated anti-trust issues. The Commission started a Phase II review in August last year, which specifically looked at the businesses operated by Dow and DuPont in two markets: crop protection and petrochemical products.

In the latter market, both companies supply acid co-polymers and ionomers, used in the production of speciality polymers. Also Dow is a leading supplier of polyolefin elastomers and monomers, in particular, glycidyl methacrylate, which DuPont also uses as input for its production of grafted polymers and ter-polymers.