Dow Chemical Co. is reportedly looking for a buyer for a facility that specializes in copolymers used in food packaging.
According to anonymous sources interviewed by Bloomberg, the company hopes that shedding the unit will help put it in a better position to receive approval by antitrust regulators for its planned merger with DuPont.
The sources said that Dow has hired a financial advisor to oversee the sale of the unit, which generates about $150 million in annual revenue supplying ethylene acrylic acid copolymers. The sources also disclosed that the facility has high profit margins and could sell for several hundred million dollars. Prospective bidders have reportedly been contacted.
Dow and DuPont have are currently being scrutinized by regulators in the EU for their planned tie up. The companies plan to merge and then split into three separate entities.
Initially Dow and DuPont had hoped to wrap up their $59 billion merger by the end of this year, but regulatory review by the EU is now slated for completion in Feb. 2017.