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DuPont closed its $7.3 billion deal with IFF on Feb. 1, and also signed another $500 million deal for its clean technologies business. | DBT PHOTO BY JACOB OWENS[/caption]
WILMINGTON – DuPont closed its long-awaited merger of its Nutrition & Biosciences division with International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) on Monday, while also announcing that it has reached a deal to sell its clean technologies business.
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Ed Breen| PHOTO COURTESY OF DUPONT[/caption]
The slicing and dicing of the Delaware mainstay chemical company has continued to be the hallmark of CEO Ed Breen, who oversaw the three-way split of the former DowDuPont giant several years ago and returned to the helm last year.
First announced in December 2019, the IFF deal resulted in a cash payout of about $7.3 billion to DuPont. About $5 billion of that will be used to pay off outstanding debt, officials reported.
DuPont shareholders own 55.4% of the combined company and Breen will join the IFF board of directors this year, serving as the lead independent director. About 10,000 people who worked in the Nutrition & Biosciences division of DuPont worldwide, including some at a Newark-area facility, have become IFF employees. That will mean that many locals will remain invested in the future of IFF, even if the corporate headquarters for the $13 billion company is located in New York City.
Meanwhile, DuPont also reported Monday morning that it was selling its Clean Technologies business for $510 million to a consortium of international private equity funds, including BroadPeak Global LP, Asia Green Fund and The Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company. The sale, which would produce an independent company, is anticipated to close in the second quarter of 2021, officials said.
Eli Ben-Shoshan, global business director of DuPont Clean Technologies, will reportedly serve as the future CEO of the independent business.
Since first producing sulfuric acid catalyst in 1925, DuPont Clean Technologies has become the global leader in advanced catalyst and process technologies to produce and regenerate sulfuric acid, hydroprocessing technology to desulfurize motor fuels, alkylation technology to produce clean gasoline and advanced air pollution control systems for refineries and chemical facilities.
"DuPont Clean Technologies is a leader in the sulfuric acid, alkylation and scrubbing sectors, with world-class products and aftermarket services. We are excited to have this mission-critical business in our portfolio,” Nadim Qureshi, co-founder and managing partner of BroadPeak Global, said in a statement. “We intend to build on this strong foundation and further expand the business with the support of management and our strategic partners.“
The deal leaves DuPont with only three business reporting segments: electronics and industrial, mobility and materials, and water and protection. Breen indicated that DuPont may become a buyer rather than the perennial seller it has been in recent years though, as it has also closed a strategic review of its non-core businesses.
“We enter 2021 in a position of strength. DuPont today is a premier multi-industrial company, well equipped to drive organic growth and expand our businesses through select and targeted M&A,” he said in a statement.
DuPont is next scheduled to update the public on Feb. 9 during its fourth quarter earnings report.
