DuPont and Dow all set for huge merger
The companies confirmed that the considerable regulatory approvals and clearances required for the deal to go ahead have all been met with and that the merger will be finalized after the market closed on August 31st, 2017.
After this point all shares in Dow and DuPont will cease trading, while shares of the new company “DowDuPont” will start trading on the NYSE from September 1st.
Antitrust approval
Back in June it was confirmed that the proposed merger had overcome the US antitrust hurdle, but with certain conditions attached.
Those conditions included selling certain crop protection products in its agricultural business portfolio as well as certain other niche areas of the business, including its acid copolymers and ionomers operations.
Back in March EU antitrust authorities had given their go ahead to the merger after striking a deal to diversify major parts of its pesticide business operations in Europe, with the authorities citing the importance of maintaining healthy competition in this area.
New structure means three spinoffs
In announcing the final date for the closing, the companies also confirmed that the anticipated spin-offs will also take place in the course of the next 18 months.
The new business structure will lead to three separate, publicly-traded businesses, with the newly formed agriculture and specialty products businesses based in Delaware and the material science business based at Dow’s current headquarters in Midland, Michigan.
The companies’ material science business will be the backbone of its operations for the cosmetics and personal space, building on two significant operations that already serve the sector.
The companies have previously estimated that the synergies arising from the merger will lead to $3 billion in cost savings, with additional annual revenues of around $1 billion. The material science business is expected to reap the biggest portion of these cost savings, estimated at $1.5 billion.