September 29, 2009

2 Min Read
Dow and K+S Confirm FTC Clearance for Morton Salt Sale

The Dow Chemical Co. and K+S Aktiengesellschaft have announced that the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has voted to accept a consent decree agreed to by K+S Aktiengesellschaft.

The acceptance of the consent decree by the FTC clears the parties to close the acquisition by K+S of Morton International Inc., the salt business of Rohm and Haas Co. The two companies expect that the closing of the transaction will take place within the next few days.

K+S already fulfilled the requirements by the FTC for selling bulk de-icing salt assets in Maine and Connecticut. The impact on the business generated by these divestitures is minor. Following the acquisition of Morton Salt, K+S will become the largest salt producer in the world.

Dow will use the $1.68 billion in gross proceeds from the sale of Morton Salt to fully pay off the balance of a bridge loan Dow used to partially fund its acquisition of Rohm and Haas. The payoff of this short-term financing facility comes well ahead of Dow's goal to pay the loan off by the end of the year.

In 2008, Dow had annual sales of $57.5 billion and employed approximately 46,000 people worldwide. The company has 150 manufacturing sites in 35 countries and produces approximately 3300 products. On April 1, 2009, Dow acquired Rohm and Haas Co., a global specialty materials company with sales of $10 billion in 2008, 98 manufacturing sites in 30 countries, and approximately 15,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit www.dow.com.

The K+S Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of specialty and standard fertilizers, plant care, and salt products. The K+S Group employs more than 12,000 people and achieved revenues of just under € 5.0 billion in 2008. For more information, visit www.k-plus-s.com.

Sign up for the Powder & Bulk Solids Weekly newsletter.

You May Also Like