European Commission clears DuPont deals linked to Dow merger

The European Commission has conditionally approved the sale by DuPont of part of its crop protection business to FMC Corp. and DuPont's acquisition of FMC's health and nutrition business.

The deals cleared Thursday help DuPont meet Commission requirements for DuPont's pending $62 billion merger with Dow Chemical.

The merger was announced in December 2015 and was initially expected to close in the first half of 2016. But it was delayed several times while U.S. and foreign regulators reviewed it.

The European Commission cleared the merger in March, subject to conditions including DuPont selling major parts of its global pesticide business.

Dow Chemical is based in Midland, Michigan. DuPont has its headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.