by Ben Nuelle LISTEN: Money Matters 6-2-16
A major Ag organization along with two other organizations sent letter to the Department of Justice regarding the DowDuPont merger.
The National Farmers Union, Food and Water Watch, and the American Antitrust Institute sent a letter to the DOJ Tuesday. Chandler Goule with the National Farmers Union says the letter expressed concerns about the Dow, DuPont merger.
?We seeing this frenzy of mergers happen in the last two years. If you look back, this has been going on for close to decades as agriculture becomes more and more consolidated but with the big six companies providing biotech, seed trait and seed services to many of our family farmers and rancher it?s very concerning when we see these six companies turn into three if all of these mergers are allowed to go forward.?
He says things would not be good for farmers if Dow and DuPont merged.
?Together the two companies DowDuPont would control 70 percent of the market for corn, 66 percent of the market for soybeans and this would give them power over farmers and higher prices for the next ten to twenty years depending on how they move their traits and how many patents they have.?
According to Dow, DuPont?s website, the merger would create a highly synergistic transaction expected to result in run-rate cost synergies of approximately $3 billion, which are projected to create approximately $30 billion of market value.
Andrew N. Liveris will be named Executive Chairman and Edward D. Breen will be named CEO of combined company.
Dow and DuPont shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company, on a fully diluted basis, excluding preferred shares.
