Dow and DuPont receive conditional approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce for proposed merger

DuPont and Dow announced a merger, defined as ‘an all-stock merger of equals’, in late 2015.

MOFCOM’s approval is conditional on DuPont and Dow fulfilling commitments given to MOFCOM in connection with the clearance. This approval continues the progress that the companies have made to secure regulatory clearances around the world for their procompetitive merger, which will drive innovation and competition. On March 27, the European Commission conditionally approved the merger.

Specifically, and consistent with commitments already made to obtain the European Commission’s regulatory approval, Dow and DuPont will divest certain parts of DuPont’s crop protection portfolio, and R&D pipeline and organization, and Dow’s global ethylene acrylic acid copolymers and ionomers business. In addition, Dow and DuPont have made commitments related to the supply and distribution in China of certain herbicide and insecticide ingredients and formulations for rice crops for five years after the closing of the proposed merger of equals.

China is a critical market for both Dow and DuPont, and will be for the three intended independent companies that will be created following the merger.

Dow and DuPont continue to work constructively with regulators in the remaining relevant jurisdictions to obtain clearance for the merger, which they are confident will be achieved. The companies reaffirm their expectation for closing of the merger to occur between August 1 and September 1, 2017, with the intended spin-offs to occur within 18 months of closing.

The companies expect that the first step of the intended separation process will be the spin-off of the Materials Science Company, assuming such sequencing would allow for the completion of all intended spin-offs within 18 months of merger closing and would not adversely impact the value of the intended spin-offs.