DowDuPont clears Chinese regulators

In another step toward its completion, the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont has cleared antitrust review in China. Most of the concessions requested by China’s Ministry of Commerce were also the European Commission’s conditions for approval. To satisfy the EC, DuPont is selling a large part of its crop protection business, as well as agricultural R&D operations, to FMC. Dow is selling its ethylene acrylic acid copolymers business to South Korea’s SK. Specific to China, authorities want Dow and DuPont to make five-year commitments related to the distribution of herbicides and insecticides for rice crops. The companies expect to complete the merger in August.