The potential merger of industrial giants Dow and Dupont “would merge two agricultural chemicals businesses and fold in DuPont’s seeds business, analysts said, bringing a close look from regulators. Farmers said they were concerned about higher prices for seeds and chemicals,” reported Reuters. Sources said the combined companies could be split into three segments, with one of them being agricultural chemicals and specialty products. In agriculture, said Reuters, Dupont sells one-third of the corn and soybean seeds planted in the United States and Dow has 5 percent of the market. A University of Wisconsin law professor said the combined market share would be viewed skeptically by the Justice Department.
Bloomberg said a Dow-Dupont merger “stands to have far-reaching consequences for European rivals, prompting a series of follow-on combinations as pesticide and seed makers scramble to face the emergence of a U.S. giant.” One analyst said Monsanto might be inspired to try again to acquire Syngenta, based in Switzerland. Dow-Dupont would be ” the world’s largest seed and pesticide company and the second-biggest chemical company after Germany’s BASF AG,” said Bloomberg. Monsanto is the largest seed and pesticide company at present.