DuPont’s board of directors has approved the separation of DuPont’s Nutrition & Biosciences (N&B) business through an exchange offer whereby stockholders can elect to tender DuPont shares for those of N&B on terms to be announced. This process is expected to be completed by 1 February.
As intimated in May, DuPont has sold a business making trichlorosilane (TCS), the primary raw material used in producing the ultra-pure polysilicon. This is based at Midland, Michigan, and was part of Dow before their merger. DuPont viewed it as no longer viewed as core. The price is said to be about $725 million.
Japan’s DIC Corporation and its Sun Chemical subsidiary have agreed a strategic partnership with DuPont for degassing modules for water treatment. The aim is to double sales of these modules in industrial water treatment from the 2019 fiscal year to 2021. D
IC noted that its customers already often use its degassing modules in combination with DuPont water purification and separation products and technologies, such as ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and ion exchange resins. This will further expand its service offer, the company said.
Dow’s headquarters site at Midland, Michigan, was hit by flooding on the morning of 20 May following the collapse of two dams. The company has now stated that “significant progress continues to be made on clean-up and recovery”, including the restoration of utilities, infrastructure, and logistics across the site to normal operations.
The first step in ongoing litigation in the US between Chemours and its parent firm DuPont over the cost of environmental liabilities relating to historic pollution caused by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) went DuPont’s way on 2 April. Chemours has said that it will appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court.
The DuPont board of directors has reappointed Edward Breen as CEO in addition to his role as executive chairman, following disappointing results in 2019. Breen (above) had been chairman and CEO from 2015 to the merger with Dow, was CEO of DowDuPont until their merger was completed and had taken a board role at Corteva, the split-out crop protection company, since 2019.
