DowDuPont™ Announces Senior Leaders of the Future Independent Companies, Corteva Agriscience™ and DuPont

September 17, 2018

MIDLAND, Mich. and  WILMINGTON, Del.,  Sept. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DowDuPont (NYSE : DWDP ) today announced the senior leaders of the independent companies that will be created following the separation of its Agriculture (Corteva Agriscience) and Specialty Products (DuPont) Divisions, which is expected to occur by  June 1, 2019. In addition, the company announced that  Ed Breen, chief executive officer of DowDuPont, will become executive chairman of DuPont following the separation.

The senior leaders of Corteva Agriscience include:

  • James C. Collins, Jr., currently chief operating officer of the Agriculture Division, will be chief executive officer;
  • Greg Friedman, currently head of finance for the Agriculture Division and vice president, DuPont Investor Relations, will be executive vice president, chief financial officer; and
  • Cornel Fuerer, currently head of legal for the Agriculture Division, will be senior vice president, general counsel.

The senior leaders of DuPont include:

  • Marc Doyle, currently chief operating officer of the Specialty Products Division, will be chief executive officer;
  • Jeanmarie Desmond, currently head of finance for the Specialty Products Division and co-controller of DowDuPont, will be executive vice president, chief financial officer; and
  • Erik Hoover, currently head of legal for the Specialty Products Division, chief compliance officer for DuPont, and assistant secretary for DowDuPont, will be senior vice president, general counsel.

In his full-time role as executive chairman of DuPont, Mr. Breen will work closely with the senior leadership team and focus on the company's portfolio management strategy, capital allocation decisions, and, in conjunction with  Marc Doyle, shareholder engagement. As CEO, Mr. Doyle will lead the organization and remain focused on business execution, growth initiatives, and further establishing a culture of innovation and operational discipline in order to maximize shareholder value. He will report to Mr. Breen.

"As we continue to make strong progress and build momentum toward the intended separations next year, we are pleased to announce the senior leadership teams that will take Corteva Agriscience and DuPont into the future," said  Ed Breen. "Over the past three years I have seen first-hand the ability of each of these leaders to develop and execute on their respective business strategies. They have successfully delivered growth, driven integration initiatives, and captured synergies, while also taking the steps needed to build world-class organizations that will position the independent companies to win in the marketplace."

Mr. Breen continued, "Marc and Jim are highly qualified executives who have an unparalleled depth of knowledge and expertise in their respective businesses. I am confident they are the right leaders to drive each company forward and capitalize on the tremendous value creation opportunity ahead for all our stakeholders – including shareholders, customers, employees, and partners."

Jim Collins said, "I am privileged to lead Corteva on behalf of all the important stakeholders we serve every day. Our combined rich history, balanced portfolio, and deep connections to our customers give me enormous confidence in Corteva's future as a focused, pure-play agriculture company. We will compete and succeed by delivering to farmers the most innovative products and value-added services in our industry. I could not be more proud to lead such a highly qualified team who are committed to accelerating innovation, executing operational efficiencies, and creating exceptional solutions for customers to grow our business and enhance value for shareholders."

"It is an honor to have the opportunity to lead the new DuPont, one of the premier innovation companies in the world," said  Marc Doyle. "We have an exceptional opportunity to shape our future by capitalizing fully on our disciplined approach to solving complex customer challenges with value-added specialized solutions that give our customers sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. I am confident in our team's ability to continue to drive growth and results for customers and shareholders alike. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Ed in his role as executive chairman as our company benefits from his unique strategic and operational experience."

As previously announced,  Jim Fitterling will become chief executive officer,  Howard Ungerleider will become president and chief financial officer, and  Amy Wilson will become general counsel of Dow upon completion of the Materials Science Division's separation from DowDuPont, which is expected to occur by  April 1, 2019. The boards of directors of the three future companies are expected to be finalized and announced by the end of  October 2018.

Biographical Information

Jim Collins

James C. Collins, Jr. is the chief operating officer for the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, Corteva. He was previously an executive vice president at DuPont responsible for the company's Agriculture segment, including DuPont Crop Protection and Pioneer. Over the past year, he has led the integration of Dow AgroSciences into the division, making Corteva the only pure-play agriculture business offering a comprehensive, balanced and diverse seed, crop protection and digital service solutions portfolio with a focus on helping farmers maximize the value of their investment through high-performing genetics and effective science-based solutions.

Since the DowDuPont merger, Mr. Collins has worked with the division's leadership to put in place the foundation that will drive Corteva's top and bottom line performance into the future, while delivering cost synergies. This includes introducing a variety of new products from its significant innovation pipeline, successfully launching its new multi-brand, multi-channel growth strategy, and establishing a best-in-class cost structure.

Mr. Collins joined DuPont in 1984 and has served in a variety of roles supporting and leading DuPont businesses. His work in the Agriculture segment began 34 years ago with manufacturing, as a sales representative and product manager, and he subsequently served in a variety of roles supporting DuPont's seed and crop protection businesses around the world. Prior to leading the Agriculture segment, a role he took in 2016, Mr. Collins spent the previous three years leading two of DuPont's other large business segments, Performance Materials and Electronics & Communications.

Mr. Collins earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from  Christian Brothers College and an MBA from the  University of Delaware.

Marc Doyle

Marc Doyle has served for the past year as chief operating officer of the Specialty Products Division of DowDuPont. During his tenure, he has delivered progress on all key financial metrics while also leading the integration of DuPont and Dow businesses to establish a strong, independent global company upon separation, which is expected to occur by  June 1, 2019.

Mr. Doyle has played a pivotal role in improving the speed and effectiveness of the company's new product development, operating efficiency, and cost discipline with a rigorous focus on shareholder returns. Prior to leading the Specialty Products Division of DowDuPont, he served as executive vice president of DuPont with responsibility for the company's diverse industrial businesses, and led the pre-merger planning for a best-in-class cost structure, lean operating model, and synergy targets for the division.

He joined DuPont as a research engineer in 1995 and subsequently held positions spanning new business development, marketing, strategic planning, and business management.  In these roles, his focus has been on building and leading customer-centric teams—driving growth and value.  

Mr. Doyle earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the  University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the  University of California at Berkeley.

Ed Breen

Edward D. Breen is the chief executive officer of DowDuPont and will become the executive chairman of the new DuPont upon separation, which is expected to occur by  June 1, 2019.

Prior to his role at DowDuPont, Mr. Breen was the chair of the board and CEO of DuPont, a role he assumed on  November 9, 2015. He joined the DuPont board of directors in  February 2015, was named interim chair of the board and CEO on  October 16, 2015, and assumed those roles permanently on  November 9, 2015.

Mr. Breen served as chairman and CEO of Tyco International plc ("Tyco") from  July 2002 until  September 2012. Over the course of his tenure, he transformed Tyco into a strong market leader, reviving the company from near bankruptcy and rebuilding the company's brand and credibility. He oversaw a successful restructuring, including divesting non-core operations resulting in the spin-offs of Covidien, TE Connectivity, ADT Corporation, and the merger of Tyco Flow Control with Pentair. He also established and met goals within areas of operational excellence and corporate governance.

Prior to joining Tyco, Mr. Breen held several senior management positions at Motorola from 2000 to 2002, including as president and chief operating officer. Mr. Breen is credited with instituting cost management programs that made Motorola a more efficient and effective organization and led the company back to profitability. From  December 1997 to  January 2000, he served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of General Instrument Corporation where he created significant long-term shareholder value by driving a revenue growth strategy. Between 1994 and 1997, Mr. Breen was president of the Broadband Networks Group for General Instrument, president of Eastern Operations for the Communications Division, and served as executive vice president of Terrestrial Systems.

Mr. Breen currently serves as a director of Comcast Corporation. He also serves as a member of the advisory board of New Mountain Capital LLC, a private equity firm.

Mr. Breen has been awarded numerous governance awards including being named one of the "100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics" by Ethisphere.

About DowDuPont™

DowDuPont (NYSE : DWDP ) is a holding company comprised of The Dow Chemical Company and DuPont with the intent to form strong, independent, publicly traded companies in agriculture, materials science and specialty products sectors that will lead their respective industries through productive, science-based innovation to meet the needs of customers and help solve global challenges. For more information, please visit us at  www.dow-dupont.com.

Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," "target," and similar expressions and variations or negatives of these words.

On  December 11, 2015, The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company ("DuPont") entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, as amended on  March 31, 2017, (the "Merger Agreement") under which the companies would combine in an all-stock merger of equals transaction (the "Merger"). Effective  August 31, 2017, the Merger was completed and each of Dow and DuPont became subsidiaries of DowDuPont (Dow and DuPont, and their respective subsidiaries, collectively referred to as the "Subsidiaries").

Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to varying degrees, uncertain, including the intended separation, subject to approval of the Company's Board of Directors and customary closing conditions of DowDuPont's agriculture, materials science and specialty products businesses in one or more tax-efficient transactions on anticipated terms (the "Intended Business Separations"). Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events which may not be realized. Forward-looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Some of the important factors that could cause DowDuPont's, Dow's or DuPont's actual results to differ materially from those projected in any such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) costs to achieve and achieving the successful integration of the respective agriculture, materials science and specialty products businesses of Dow and DuPont, anticipated tax treatment, unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, productivity actions, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for the management, expansion and growth of the combined operations; (ii) costs to achieve and achievement of the anticipated synergies by the combined agriculture, materials science and specialty products businesses; (iii) risks associated with the Intended Business Separations, including conditions which could delay, prevent or otherwise adversely affect the proposed transactions, including possible issues or delays in obtaining required regulatory approvals or clearances related to the Intended Business Separations, associated costs, disruptions in the financial markets or other potential barriers; (iv) disruptions or business uncertainty, including from the Intended Business Separations, could adversely impact DowDuPont's business (either directly or as conducted by and through Dow or DuPont), or financial performance and its ability to retain and hire key personnel; (v) uncertainty as to the long-term value of DowDuPont common stock; and (vi) risks to DowDuPont's, Dow's and DuPont's business, operations and results of operations from: the availability of and fluctuations in the cost of feedstocks and energy; balance of supply and demand and the impact of balance on prices; failure to develop and market new products and optimally manage product life cycles; ability, cost and impact on business operations, including the supply chain, of responding to changes in market acceptance, rules, regulations and policies and failure to respond to such changes; outcome of significant litigation, environmental matters and other commitments and contingencies; failure to appropriately manage process safety and product stewardship issues; global economic and capital market conditions, including the continued availability of capital and financing, as well as inflation, interest and currency exchange rates; changes in political conditions, including trade disputes and retaliatory actions; business or supply disruptions; security threats, such as acts of sabotage, terrorism or war, natural disasters and weather events and patterns which could result in a significant operational event for the Company, adversely impact demand or production; ability to discover, develop and protect new technologies and to protect and enforce the Company's intellectual property rights; failure to effectively manage acquisitions, divestitures, alliances, joint ventures and other portfolio changes; unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism or outbreak of war or hostilities, as well as management's response to any of the aforementioned factors. These risks are and will be more fully discussed in the current, quarterly and annual reports filed with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission by DowDuPont. While the list of factors presented here is, considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on DowDuPont's, Dow's or DuPont's consolidated financial condition, results of operations, credit rating or liquidity. None of DowDuPont, Dow or DuPont assumes any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws. A detailed discussion of some of the significant risks and uncertainties which may cause results and events to differ materially from such forward-looking statements is included in the section titled "Risk Factors" (Part I, Item 1A) of DowDuPont's 2017 annual report on Form 10-K.

Discussion of segment revenue, operating EBITDA and price/volume metrics on a divisional basis for Agriculture is based on the results of the Agriculture segment; for Materials Science is based on the combined results of the Performance Materials & Coatings, Industrial & Infrastructure, and Packaging & Specialty Plastics segments; and for Specialty Products is based on the combined results of the Electronics & Imaging, Nutrition & Biosciences, Transportation & Advanced Polymers, and Safety & Construction segments. The segment disclosures have been presented in this manner for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as an indication of each division's current or future operating results on a standalone basis assuming completion of the Intended Business Separations.

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