Dow Chemical → DuPont
A merger of equals whose real purpose only became clear after the fact — to combine, then immediately split into three cleaner, more valuable focused companies.
An all-stock merger of equals forming DowDuPont, split into three listed companies in 2019.
- Value
- $130B
- Announced
- December 2015
- Completed
- August 2017
- Sector
- Industrials
- Deal type
- merger
- Acquirer
- Dow Chemical (United States)
- Target
- DuPont (United States)
Why it mattered
Both companies were sprawling chemical conglomerates whose overlapping businesses each earned lower multiples than pure-play peers. Third Point at Dow and Trian at DuPont had been pushing separately for years to break each up. Combining first, then splitting on cleaner lines, produced three coherent businesses — agriculture, materials, specialty — that public markets would each pay a premium to own.
The story
Announced 11 December 2015 as a $130bn merger of equals. Regulatory approval was the long pole: EU, US, China, Brazil all extracted asset divestitures — especially in crop-protection chemicals — before the combination finally closed on 1 September 2017 as "DowDuPont." Nineteen months of integration, then the pre-announced trifurcation on schedule: Dow (materials science) spun off 1 April 2019, Corteva (agriculture) 1 June 2019, DuPont (specialty products) retained the parent listing.
What it left behind
The proof-of-concept for merge-then-split as a repeatable structural play. Combined enterprise value of the three post-split entities exceeded pre-deal Dow + DuPont within eighteen months. The template has been referenced explicitly in every conglomerate breakup discussion since.
At a glance
- Structure
- Merger of equals, all-stock
- Announced
- 11 Dec 2015
- Combined entity
- DowDuPont Inc.
- Planned split
- Into 3 companies
- Split completed
- Apr & Jun 2019
- Activists
- Third Point (Dow), Trian (DuPont)
- Regulatory divestitures
- Herbicides, seeds, materials