DuPont and Dow in $120bn deal talks
D
ow Chemical and DuPont are in talks
over a potential $120bn merger that
would bring together America’s two largest
chemicals companies, and then split them
up into three new businesses, according to a
person familiar with the negotiations.
A deal between Dow and DuPont would bring
together two companies of very similar size:
Dow has a market capitalisation of $60bn
and DuPont of $59bn at their recent share
prices.
However, there could be significant
competition problems raised by the deal
because of the two companies’ size, and it
was not certain that it would go through, the
person warned. "A deal like this will definitely
be subject to close antitrust scrutiny by
Chinese regulators - not just MOFCOM
but many other government actors will be
involved in the process. That doesn't mean
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November 2015
the deal will necessarily be prohibited," said
Angela Zhang, an antitrust expert at King's
College in London.
Zhang warns that the merger review process
will be protracted. However, if the companies
"can offer remedies that satisfy the Chinese