Midland, MI and Kassel, Germany - September 28, 2009
The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and K+S Aktiengesellschaft announced jointly today 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 Company.
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.
About Dow
About K+S
The K+S Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of speciality and standard fertilizers, plant care as well as salt products. With its products and brands, K+S offers its customers a range of needs-based goods and services which provides growth opportunities in virtually every sphere of daily life. The K+S Group employs more than 12,000 people and achieved revenues of just under € 5.0 billion in 2008. K+S is quoted on all German stock exchanges (ISIN: DE0007162000, symbol: SDF) and listed on the DAX® share index. More information about K+S at www.k-plus-s.com.
Note: The forward-looking statements contained in this document involve risks and uncertainties that may affect Dow's operations, markets, products, services, prices and other factors as discussed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Accordingly, there is no assurance that Dow's expectations will be realized. Dow assumes no obligation to provide revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.
For Editorial Information:
Bob Plishka
The Dow Chemical Company
+1 989 638 2288
Michael Wudonig
K+S
+49 561 9301-1262
michael.wudonig@k-plus-s.com
