Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd. to Buy Dow AgroSciences Thifluzamide Fungicide

Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd. (President: Kojiro Kinoshita) and Dow AgroSciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), have closed on the sale of Dows thifluzamide fungicide business to Nissan.  Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Thifluzamide is highly active against Basidiomycete fungi, in particular Rhizoctonia solani, primarily in rice, potatoes, and turf markets. This purchase will further strengthen Nissans position in these markets, and allows Dow AgroSciences to focus on other priority solutions in its ag chemical and biotechnology product portfolios.

"This is part of Dow AgroSciences ongoing portfolio management activities to maximize value and further our growth strategy," said Tim Hassinger, Vice President, Crops Global Business Unit for Dow AgroSciences. "Today, Dow AgroSciences is taking another important step by divesting this business, enabling us to focus resources on other areas of our portfolio that provide solutions critical to the growth of the agricultural industry."

Nissan begins selling thifluzamide and its formulations around the world as of Jan. 18, 2010. Dow AgroSciences will retain the right to sell certain thifluzamide combination products for rice nursery box applications in Japan.