european commission

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The long-delayed $62 billion merger of chemical giants DuPont and Dow has been approved by U.S. antitrust regulators.

  The Justice Department said Thursday it would approve the deal as long as the companies sell off some herbicide and chemical units to preserve competition. Those sales are already in the works.

  The merger was originally 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 proposed merger of Midland-based Dow Chemical and DuPont has cleared another regulatory hurdle.

Brazilian officials are the latest to give their blessing to the $130 billion merger of the chemical industry giants. The recommendation by Brazilian regulators still must be approved by an administrative tribunal, which is largely a formality.

We may learn this week if European regulators are going to give the green light to the proposed merger of Midland-based Dow Chemical and DuPont.

Reuters is citing sources saying the European Commission will give its blessing to the proposed merger early this week.

A European Commission spokesman would only say, “We cannot speculate on the precise date for a decision.”   

The proposed merger of Midland-based Dow Chemical and DuPont may soon clear a critical hurdle.

European regulators may be close to approving the $130 billion merger. The European Commission has until April to make its final decision.

Dow and DuPont officials have been working hard for months to convince European regulators to approve their merger. Those efforts may have finally paid off.

The proposed merger of DuPont with Midland-based Dow Chemical took another formal step in a pivotal regulatory review today.

Getting the approval of the European Commission to the multi-billion-dollar merger is seen as a key obstacle for Dow and DuPont.