Dow sells off herbicide line , amid sector shake-up
Dow sells off herbicide line , amid sector shake-up
Dow Chemical Co is selling off part of its herbicide business amid continued talks of consolidation in the ag-chemical sector .
Dow will sell off its line of dinitroaniline ( DNA ) herbicides to Gowan Company , for an undisclosed sum .
The deal will include the trademark for Treflan , a herbicide that is used on a wide range of field crops including maize , cotton , and some fruits and vegetables .
Gowan will also take on a formulation and packaging facility in Alberta , Canada .
Dow ' s farm chemicals and seeds unit has seen falling sales , and the company is reported to have already been involved in talks over the possible sale of the entire segment , just one of a slew of merger and acquisition rumours circulating in the ag-chemical sector .
Tighter belts
Falling crop prices have led to squeezed farmer incomes , which is hitting demand for agricultural inputs , such as seed , fertiliser and crop protection chemicals . wake of the rejected Monsanto bid .
As well as the Monsanto offer , the third such bid this year , Syngenta has rejected a $ 42bn offer from the Chinese stateowned China National Chemical Corp , while German chemical group BASF is reported to have sought financing for a Syngenta deal .
The Wall Street Journal has carried reports that Syngenta was in takeover discussions with DuPont as well . Elsewhere in this issue we cover the Dow / du Pont story .
Active discussions
In an interview with in November , Syngenta chairman Michel Demare said that merger and acquisition conversations in the industry were " extremely active ".
" This is the result of the Monsanto approach for Syngenta , which for sure has shaken the whole industry ... It has created the huge activity in which everyone is speaking to each other ," Mr Demare said . " We are all convinced that the sector will look quite different in six months ."
Failed takeover approaches made by Monsanto to Syngenta earlier this year have sparked a febrile atmosphere in the sector .
Syngenta discussion
In November the Monsanto executives told investors the company still had its eye on Syngenta , and expressed confidence that the sector would see major shakeups over the coming months . Syngenta ' s chief executive Mike Mack stepped down last month , in the
New product investments
The herbicide business to be acquired by Gowan operates in the USA , Canada , Japan , Australia and parts of Europe . Ramiro De La Cruz , vice president of crop protection for Dow AgroSciences , said the company will " invest in innovative and differentiated products ."
Juli Jessen , Gowan chief executive , said that the company would " defend and evolve " the herbicide for use in vegetables and turf .
20 FARMERS GAZETTE November 2015