Dow, DuPont agree to merge

Edward Breen (left), chairman and CEO of DuPont, and Andrew Liveris, president chairman and CEO of Dow. Photo: Dow Chemical/DuPont

DuPont and Dow Chemical, parent company of Dow AgroSciences, agreed to merge, the New York Times reports. The deal is an all stock “merger of equals.”

The combined company will be known as DowDuPont.

It plans to split into three separate companies, consisting of agricultural chemicals, specialty products and materials, like plastics. The companies expect the merger to be completed by the second half of 2016. It must be approved by regulators and shareholders of both companies. The move would give Dow and DuPont the ability to choose the best products in their research pipeline and shutter the rest.

The two companies, which generated a combined $92 billion in sales, would be the second-largest chemical company in terms of revenue after BASF of Germany, the report says.

Photo: Dow Chemical/DuPont