Dow Chemical Reinforces its Future with Planned Acquisition of Rohm and Haas

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) (Midland, Michigan) has announced its intentions to acquire Rohm and Haas Company (NYSE:ROH) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), building on its role as a leading global chemical player. This deal is certain to quickly diversify Dow Chemical and catapult the company as a significant contender in the specialty chemicals market in which it currently has few roots. An acquisition of this size generally equals a rash of plant closures and layoffs, although early indications suggest this will be minimal based on the very different core products of these two companies. Together, the companies operate more than 100 plants globally.

Based on planned future spending identified by Industrial Info as part of our North American Project Database, Dow Chemical has more than $430 million in major project activity planned in North America over the next couple of years and billions more internationally. Dow is predominantly a commodities producer and very susceptible to the sharp increases in feedstock prices and volatile energy costs. Spending at this level is nothing new for Dow, which has consistently invested heavily to maintain its leading role in the global chemical-commodities business. Among the most significant current projects are plans for a major chlor-alkali unit addition at its Plant B site in Freeport, Texas. This project is part of a plan to retire older inefficient and costly technology.

Rohm and Haas has been a much quieter investor in new capacity with less than $25 million in active projects currently being tracked by Industrial Info in North America. Many of the recent projects planned or completed by Rohm and Haas were those focused on specific customer applications demonstrating their role as a company committed to the development of new products utilizing the latest technology.

Each of these companies has issued price increases during the last few months, some in tune with competitors in their market place and some setting the pace for others to follow. There are many months of due diligence to be completed for the finalization of this deal, although the acquisition plan looks strong. The price tag, at more than $18 billion, shows just how serious Dow Chemical is in making this deal happen with little incident.

View Plant Profile - 1017655
View Project Report - 01012060

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.