J. Pedro Reinhard, Dow Chemical executive vice president and CFO, speaks to the media about the completion of Dow's merger with Union Carbide.
MIDLAND, Mich. — The Dow Chemical Co. completed its $7.3-billion acquisition of Union Carbide Corp., Danbury, Conn., after agreeing to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stipulation that Dow must divest intellectual property related to the production of plastic trash bags. In addition, Dow is required to divest its ethylene-amines, ethanolamines and methyldiethanolamine business, which involves the manufacture of lubricating-oil additives, personal-care products, fabric softeners, herbicides and fungicides, among other products. In the stock transaction, Union Carbide becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow, which will remain headquartered in Midland, Mich.

The merger creates the second-biggest U.S. chemical company, behind DuPont. Dow is a major supplier of raw materials, including epoxy and latex resins, solvents, acrylic monomers, polyurethane resins, and a variety of additives. Union Carbide is a major supplier of coatings resins, emulsions, solvents, intermediates and additives.

Dow has announced an agreement to sell its global ethyleneamines business to a subsidiary of Huntsman Corp. Terms were not disclosed. Huntsman said the acquisition provides a complement to the company’s existing amines business and expands its global polyurethanes business by adding polyol and urethane-catalyst production.

Separately, Dow reportedly will sell its ethanolamines business to Ineos Acrylics UK Ltd.