By Business & Finance 
DuPont and The Dow Chemical Company today announced an agreement under which the companies will combine to form DowDuPont.
The company will separate into three independent companies through tax-free spin-offs: an agriculture company; a pure-play material science company; and a leading technology and innovation-driven specialty products company.
The combined company have a combined market capitalisation of $130bn and the transaction is expected to deliver approximately $3bn in cost synergies.
Andrew N Liveris, chairman and CEO, Dow, said: “This transaction is a game-changer for our industry and reflects the culmination of a vision we have had for more than a decade to bring together these two powerful innovation and material science leaders. Over the last decade our entire industry has experienced tectonic shifts as an evolving world presented complex challenges and opportunities – requiring each company to exercise foresight, agility and focus on execution. This transaction is a major accelerator in Dow’s ongoing transformation, and through this we are creating significant value and three powerful new companies. This merger of equals significantly enhances the growth profile for both companies, while driving value for all of our shareholders and our customers.”
Edward D Breen, chairman and CEO, DuPont commented: “This is an extraordinary opportunity to deliver long-term, sustainable shareholder value through the combination of two highly complementary global leaders and the creation of three strong, focused, industry-leading businesses. Each of these businesses will be able to allocate capital more effectively, apply its powerful innovation more productively, and extend its value-added products and solutions to more customers worldwide.
He continued: “For DuPont, this is a definitive leap forward on our path to higher growth and higher value. This merger of equals will create significant near-term value through substantial cost synergies and additional upside from growth synergies. Longer term, the three-way split we intend to pursue is expected to unlock even greater value for shareholders and customers and more opportunity for employees as each business will be a leader in attractive segments where global challenges are driving demand for these businesses’ distinctive offerings.”
