DuPont, the American chemical company, recently announced its intention to collaborate and potentially merge with its rivals in the agricultural business.
As reported by Reuters, interim chief executive officer Edward Breen said on Tuesday the company is in talks with other companies. The alleged reason for the talks is attributed to falling crop prices and rising fertilizer outputs, which consolidated among farm-focused companies.
And according to the U.S. Agriculture Department, the falling prices of corn and soybean, in addition to high prices of land, seeds and other inputs, are squeezing farm income. Farmers' earnings are expected to go down by 36 percent in 2015 to $58.3 billion over a year ago.
With farmers now having lesser to spend, Breen said, "Consolidation should happen. Clearly, we'll have our nose in the tent to see if there is anything that makes great sense for shareholders."
DuPont has been reported to be the potential buyer of Dow Chemical Do's (DOW. N) farm unit, but some pundits have questioned if the company is in a position to do so.
According to Grayson Witcher, a portfolio manager at the Mawer Investment Management Ltd, "We would be shocked if DuPont's management team did not at least look at Dow's business - a large agriculture business like Dow's rarely changes owners." Mawer owns DuPont shares.
After former CEO Ellen Kullman abruptly stepped down this month, Breen took over and is now currently handling the business decisions for the company. Her departure also sparked debates among analysts, whether the conglomerate should be broken apart.
When asked on a post-earnings call if DuPont was looking to sell its own farm unit, Breen said, "We will do what's right for our shareholders to create value for them." However, he did not commit to a sale or a purchase of the unit, which accounted to 22 percent of the company's total revenue in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30.
And in a related report by the Des Moines Register, the interim CEO said, "You've seen all the activity in the past six months, everyone is talking to everyone. That's a true statement. ... And I'm personally talking to CEOs of some of the other companies."
However, CNBC reported that DuPont delivered quarterly earnings that topped expectations, with the company citing a strong dollar and the weak agricultural markets in Brazil and other emerging markets for the decline in profits.
As for the company's shares, DuPont posted third-quarter earnings of 13 percent per share, down from 54 cents a share in the year-earlier period.
Although they posted numbers better than expectations, the company's revenue actually fell to $4.97 billion from $7.51 billion a year ago.
