The man that would lead the agriculture division created by the merger of U.S. giants Dow and DuPont says the companies expect to close the merger by the end of this year despite ongoing antitrust reviews, said DTN.
Soon after the merger, the companies plan to split into three divisions: an agricultural division that had a combined $16 billion in sales last year in seeds, traits and crop-protection chemicals; a material science company with $46 billion in sales and a $12-billion unit focusing on various specialty products, DTN said.
DuPont executive Jim Collins, tabbed as chief operating officer of the DowDuPont agricultural unit, told DTN, “We expected a very thorough process and it has been.” The EU said earlier this month that it would decide by early February whether to approve the corporate union. The Justice Department has not commented on its antitrust review of the proposed merger.
In a speech at the World Food Prize conference, Collins said DuPont intends to invest $10 billion in food research and development by 2020 and launch 4,000 new products. The company has a “very rich pipeline” from its research work, he said, as well as in its partnerships with universities.