DuPont backs out of water spin-off plan

DuPont is reversing plans to spin off its water business, but it is accelerating the separation of its electronic materials business. The company announced last May that it would use the two transactions to split into three different firms within 18–24 months. The largest of the three would have $6.6 billion in annual sales and make recognizable DuPont products such as Kevlar and Tyvek. The electronics business has $4.0 billion in sales from materials including chemical mechanical planarization pads and lithography chemicals. The water treatment business, which makes reverse osmosis membranes and ion-exchange resins, has $1.5 billion in sales. DuPont now says that the high-growth business is a better fit with its traditional product line but that it is accelerating the spin-off of its electronics business to November. DuPont has been selling off businesses, such as engineering polymers and food ingredients, since it separated from Dow in 2019.