LONDON - EU antitrust authorities will decide by July 28 whether to allow the $130 billion (87.87 billion pound) merger of U.S. chemical company Dow Chemical Co (N:DOW) and its rival DuPont (N:DD), one of several large agribusiness deals.
The companies requested approval on Wednesday, according to a filing on the European Commission website.
The EU competition enforcer can approve the deal with or without concessions or it can open a full-scale investigation of about five months should it have serious concerns about the merger's impact on consumers and rivals.
DuPont and Dow hope to close the deal around October-November. The U.S. Department of Justice is also examining the proposed merger.