Chemical reports
DowDuPont Merger Successfully Completed
DowDuPont announced the successful completion of the merger of equals between The Dow Chemical Company and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, effective Aug. 31, 2017. The combined entity is operating as a holding company under the name “DowDuPont” with three divisions – Agriculture, Materials Science and Specialty Products.
“Today marks a significant milestone in the storied histories of our two companies,” said Andrew Liveris, executive chairman of DowDuPont. “We are extremely excited to complete this transformational merger and move forward to create three intended industry-leading, independent, publicly traded companies. Our teams have been working for more than a year on integration planning, and -- as of today -- we will hit the ground running on executing those plans with an intention to complete the separations as quickly as possible.”
With the merger now complete, our focus is on finalizing the organizational structures that will be the foundations of these three intended strong companies and capturing the synergies to unlock value. With clear focus, market visibility and more productive R&D, each intended company will be equipped to compete successfully as an industry leader,” said Ed Breen, chief executive officer of DowDuPont.
The Board of Directors of DowDuPont comprises 16 members – eight directors formerly on the DuPont Board and eight directors formerly on the Dow Board. There are two lead directors: Jeffrey Fettig, who previously served as the lead independent director for Dow; and Alexander Cutler, who previously served as the lead independent director for DuPont. Liveris serves as the executive chairman of the Board and Breen also serves on the Board.
Paths to Separation
Once each division has its own processes, people, assets, systems and licenses in place to operate independently from the parent company, DowDuPont intends to separate the divisions to stand within their own legal entities, subject to Board approval and any regulatory approvals. The intended separations are expected to occur within 18 months.
The intended companies are expected to include:
The Agriculture Company that brings together the strengths of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection and Dow AgroSciences and will be headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, with global business centers in Johnston, Iowa, and Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Materials Science Company, to be named Dow that will consist of the businesses comprising the following current Dow operating segments: Performance Plastics, Performance Materials & Chemicals, Infrastructure Solutions and Consumer Solutions (Consumer Care and Dow Automotive Systems; Dow Electronic Materials is intended to go to the Specialty Products Company), as well as DuPont’s current Performance Materials operating segment. The intended Materials Science Company will be headquartered in Midland, Michigan.
The Specialty Products Company that will consist of businesses including DuPont Protection Solutions, Sustainable Solutions, Industrial Biosciences and Nutrition & Health, which will integrate the Health and Nutrition business from FMC pending the close of that transaction; as well as Electronic Technologies, which combines DuPont’s Electronics & Communications business with Dow’s Electronic Materials business unit. The intended Specialty Products Company will be headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.
Three Advisory Committees have been established by the DowDuPont Board, chartered to generally oversee the establishment of each of the Agriculture, Materials Science (Dow) and Specialty Products divisions in preparation for the separations. Additionally, each Advisory Committee will develop a capital structure in accordance with the guiding principles set forth in the Bylaws, and designate the future chief executive officer and leadership team of its respective intended company.
