By Jessica Domel

Multimedia Editor

In just a few short weeks, the merger between Dow Chemical Company and DuPont will be final.

According to a press release issued Friday, the two companies have received all the required regulatory approvals and clearances to complete the merger.

The merger of equals is slated to close Aug. 31.

At the close of the New York Stock Exchange on that day, shares of both companies will cease trading.

Shares of the new company, DowDuPont, will begin trading on the stock exchange the following day.

The merger gained approval from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in mid-June on the condition that the companies agree to sell certain crop protection products and other assets to move forward.

Since their combined annual sales topped $100 million, the DOJ required Dow and DuPont to sell DuPont’s Finesse herbicide for winter wheat and Rynaxypyr insecticides.

Dow’s acid copolymers and isonomers business were also on the chopping block.

The companies, once merged, plan to spin-off into three “high focused, independent companies” within 18 months of the Aug. 31 closing.

One of those three businesses will focus on agriculture and will unite Dow and DuPont’s seed and crop protection businesses.

Another will be a material science company consisting of DuPont’s Performance Materials segment, Dow’s Performance Plastics, Performance Materials and Chemicals, Infrastructure Solutions and Consumers Solutions operating segments.

The third will be a specialty products company. It will include DuPont’s Nutrition and Health, Industrial Biosciences, Safety and Protection and Electronics and Communication, along with Dow’s Electronic Materials business.

The merger is one of three attempted by major agribusinesses this year.

Bayer AG is seeking antitrust approval for its acquisition of Monsanto Company. Monsanto shareholders approved the merger late last year.

If approved in all jurisdictions, the merger will create the world’s largest seed and crop protection company.

Meanwhile, China’s National Chemical Corporation, or ChemChina, is moving forward with its agreement to buy Syngenta.

ChemChina announced it received the support it needs from Syngenta shareholders to move forward with the $43 billion takeover bid in May.

If realized, the deal will be China’s largest business takeover of a foreign company.