The board of directors of DowDuPont has approved the previously announced separation of DowDuPont’s Materials Science Division, which will become the new Dow on April 1. The announcement marks a major milestone toward successfully separating Dow on April 1, to be followed by the expected separation of Corteva Agriscience from the new DuPont on June 1.

DowDuPont plans to separate into three, independent, publicly traded companies - one for each of its agriculture, materials science and specialty products businesses. After the separation, Dow will be an independent, publicly traded company, pursuing its ambition to become the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world.

“We believe that each of the intended three independent companies is set to be an industry leader with the right management and capital structure to better serve customers, compete in their end markets and focus on their innovation priorities”, said Ed Breen, chief executive officer of DowDuPont.

“The new Dow is a more focused, disciplined and market-oriented company. We are fully prepared for our separation from DowDuPont on April 1, and ready to innovate and grow with our customers while delivering long-term value for our shareholders”, said Jim Fitterling, chief operating officer of the Materials Science division and chief executive officer elect of Dow.