Europe restarts Dow/DuPont merger review

A European Union regulatory agency as restarted its review of the proposed $130 billion merger between DuPont and The Dow Chemical Co. after the companies submitted missing information.

The European Commission halted the probe last month after saying it needed more information about the deal's impact on competition in Europe's agriculture market.

"The companies involved supplied the missing information and therefore the commission restarted the clock," the commission said in a statement.

According to the commission, the investigation is scheduled to be completed by Feb. 6, 2017. The commission had previously said the review would be finished by late December. Both Dow and DuPont are working towards completing the merger by the end of the year.

"We remain focused on working with the European Commission toward closing the transaction by year-end 2016," said DuPont spokesman Dan Turner. "In the event that the commission utilizes the full allotted time, closing would be expected to occur in the early part of 2017, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of all regulatory approvals."

Although the companies are still aiming to close the deal by the end of this year, that appears unlikely. In addition to halting and restarting the review, Dow and DuPont has asked the commission for a 10-day extension that would pushed the decision date from late September to early January. At the time the delay was requested, Turner said the commission may not need all 10-days to finalize its ruling.