MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical Co.’s chief executive officer said the USD59 billion merger with DuPont Co. may be delayed until February from a planned closing late this year, as European antitrust officials take more time to consider potential competition issues in pesticides and crop seeds, said Bloomberg.
Regulators’ "greatest concern is agriculture," Dow’s Andrew Liveris said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait in New York. “One of the strongest lobbies in the world out there is the farm lobby, and in Europe, the agricultural sector is very, very critical to them, somewhat protected."
Shareholders in the two largest U.S. chemical companies approved the 50-50 merger in June and Dow Chief Financial Officer Howard Ungerleider said this summer that the merger was on track to close by the end of the year. The European Commission this month delayed its decision deadline until Feb. 6 as it sought additional information about the transaction. Liveris said the value created by the deal made the wait worthwhile.
"That’s worth a few months of delay," he said in the interview. Liveris wouldn’t say whether the companies planned to sell assets to help win approval. Bloomberg reported this month that Dow is seeking a buyer for its copolymers business to ease regulators’ concerns. Likewise, DuPont is planning to sell an herbicides business, Bloomberg also reported.
Dow shares have gained 5.4 percent this year, narrowly edging the 5.3 percent increase in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Like the S&P, DuPont has advanced 5.3 percent.
Liveris, 62, has spent four decades at Dow, including more than a decade as chairman and chief executive officer. He will become chairman of the combined company, DowDuPont Inc., and plans to step down after the deal goes through. His counterpart at DuPont, Ed Breen, will serve as CEO.
The plan is to divide the merged company into three separate publicly traded entities, including an agriculture operation that would be larger than market leaders Monsanto Co. and Syngenta AG. Those two companies forged combinations of their own this year, with Monsanto agreeing to be acquired by Bayer AG and Syngenta striking a deal to be bought by China National Chemical Corp.
DuPont reports quarterly results Tuesday while Dow will follow on Oct. 27.Liveris, a native of Australia, didn’t specify what he plans to do after retiring, but noted a keen interest in politics. He said the U.S. is not doing a good job selecting candidates and that business leaders with worldly experience could be valuable in the political arena.
"People like me should consider going and serving after they leave jobs like these," said Liveris, while saying he didn’t necessarily plan to run for any office.
MRC