Dow, DuPont Will Make Final Case in EU to Save Merger Next Week
- Companies to defend $60 billion deal at closed-door hearing
- EU has cited concerns that deal may reduce research spending
DuPont Pioneer hybrid corn is loaded into a Case IH planter in a field in Princeton, Illinois, U.S., on Monday, April 18, 2016.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergDow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. will meet European Union antitrust regulators at a closed-door hearing next week to make the case for their planned $60 billion merger, according to two people familiar with the process.
The companies will attempt to counter EU concerns at the Jan. 9 hearing that their tie-up might hurt spending on research and development for agrochemicals, holding back innovation in an industry critical to the global food chain. The pair have been talking to regulators in recent weeks to better understand the issues, one of the people said, who declined to be identified because the process is private.