Shareholders approve historic Dow, DuPont merger
Canadian Plastics
MaterialsThe two chemical makers will splinter into three parts when the deal is finalized.
Shareholders for chemicals companies DuPont and Dow Chemical have approved their merger, giving the green light for the firms to break up into three parts.
According to DuPont, 98 per cent of shareholders who participated in a recent meeting voted in favour of the combination, while Dow Chemical said 97 per cent of participating shareholders did the same.
The plan to merge the two century-old companies was announced in December in a deal valued at about US$62 billion.
The two companies expect the combination to be official by the end of 2016.
Within two years, the company plans to split into three separate publicly traded companies. One company will focus on agriculture, one on material science, and one will make and sell specialty products.
The two sides have been eliminating staff and closing facilities as they get ready to combine. DuPont is laying off about 10 per cent of its staff worldwide, and last month Dow said it will cut 2,500 jobs. They say the merger will reduce their annual spending by US$3 billion.
