Europe resumes probe of Dow-DuPont deal

The European Commission’s antitrust division has resumed reviewing the proposed merger between Dow Chemical and DuPont. The commission halted work on the review in mid-September while it awaited missing information from the companies. The commission had intended to complete the review by Dec. 20 but now says its target date is Feb. 6, 2017. That delay is likely to affect the companies’ goal of closing the deal by the end of 2016. Regulators are also considering two other large planned mergers affecting agriculture: ChemChina’s purchase of Syngenta and Bayer’s purchase of Monsanto.