The separation will allow each company to set specific capital allocation strategies, respond faster to market shifts and pursue growth opportunities independently, Corteva said.

WHY IT MATTERS: Corteva was formed after chemical conglomerate DowDuPont split apart in 2019.

Its shares fell about seven per cent to their lowest in nearly five months. The stock has fallen more than 14 per cent since the Wall Street Journal reported the company’s spin-off plans last month, as analysts raised concerns about disruption and dilution.

The company has estimated dis-synergies, or added costs from splitting the company, of $80 million-$100 million (C$111.6 million to $139.5 million).

“We don’t believe Corteva’s valuation multiple has been hurt or constrained by having the pesticide business in the portfolio… pesticide business has benefited from the halo effect of the higher-value seed business,” Mizuho analyst Edlain Rodriguez said.

Corteva added its crop protection unit would be responsible to settle the environmental claims, including pollution linked to PFAS, or “forever chemicals”.

The company, along with DuPont and Chemours, are obligated to pay $875 million over 25 years to the State of New Jersey.

Corteva’s seed business accounted for 57 per cent of its total sales in 2024, with remaining coming from itsother segment, which produces herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and seed treatments.

The company itself was formed from chemical conglomerate DowDuPont’s three-way split in 2019. Corteva’s split follows six years of cost cuts, portfolio simplification and investment in new technologies.

Since the separation, Corteva’s shares have risen over 133 per cent, and its market value now stands at $45.93 billion.

Corteva joins several giants such as Kraft Heinz, Warner Bros Discovery and DuPont, which have announced big-ticket spin-offs over the last year.

The spin off is expected to complete in the second half of 2026.

CEO Chuck Magro will lead the seed spin-off, while Chairman Greg Page will stay on at Corteva, which will focus on crop protection.

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Separating its crop-seed unit from its pesticide business could help shield its seeds from any potential future liabilities associated with its pest and weed-killing chemicals, the report said, adding that the company is expected to reveal plans soon, barring any last-minute snags.

Corteva, spun off from chemical conglomerate DowDuPont in 2019, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Shares of the company rose 1.6 per cent in extended trading and it had a market capitalization of nearly $50 billion (C$69.2 billion) as of Friday.

Its possible split underscores a growing wave of corporate separations in 2025, as major companies such as Honeywell, Kraft Heinz and Warner Bros. Discovery respond to investor calls for restructuring.

Last year, DuPont had also planned to split into three publicly traded units to pursue focused growth, but has now decided against selling its water and protection unit.

The agrichemicals industry has been grappling with a potential fallout from shifting tariff policies, which are expected to lower demand and curb farmers’ spending.

Corteva is among the largest crop-protection product makers in the United States, competing with the likes of Syngenta and German firms BASF and Bayer.

In August, Corteva raised its annual adjusted profit and sales forecast following strong performance in the first half of the year.

DowDuPont was formed in 2017 after the merger of DuPont and Dow Chemical. Two years later, it spun off its chemical business as Dow and the agribusiness division into Corteva, with DuPont remaining on as the company it is today.

-Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru

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Reuters had reported in May that U.S. farmers have hit very few snags with corn planting this spring, and the foreseeable future is barrier-free.

Corteva’s net sales rose 5.6 per cent to $6.46 billion (C$8.88 billion) during the second quarter, driven by higher sales in all its regions.

The company is among the largest crop-protection product makers in the United States, competing with the likes of Syngenta and German firms BASF and Bayer in the agricultural chemicals sector.

The company raised its forecast for full-year adjusted earnings to be between $3.00 to $3.20 per share, from a prior view of $2.70 to $2.95 per share.

— Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru

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U.S. District Judge Brian Miller in Little Rock, Arkansas, said the state can pursue its claims that loyalty programs run by Syngenta and Corteva that provide rebates for pesticide purchases violate federal and state antitrust and consumer-protection laws.

Arkansas’ lawsuit claimed Syngenta and Corteva are paying pesticide distributors or retailers to restrict their purchase of generic crop-protection products that contain specific ingredients.

The lawsuit said distributors and retailers fear losing their loyalty payments and so have no incentive to sell more generics.

Syngenta and Corteva did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They have denied any wrongdoing.

In a statement, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, said the state “has legitimate claims against the anticompetitive rebate programs” of Syngenta and Corteva and will seek to “hold companies accountable for practices that harm the market and ultimately consumers.”

Syngenta and Corteva in seeking dismissal of the state’s lawsuit said their rebate programs lowered prices and denied they are anticompetitive.

They also said the state should have been barred from bringing antitrust claims on behalf of consumers.

Miller said the state had sufficiently alleged Arkansas residents were paying higher prices for pesticide products based on the claimed anticompetitive conduct.

Syngenta and Corteva are fighting other lawsuits challenging their loyalty programs.

In January, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder in the Winston-Salem federal court said the companies must face some antitrust claims lodged by farmers in California, Texas, Florida and other states.

Schroeder last year also said that a related U.S. Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, filed with a bipartisan group of U.S. states, could move forward.

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U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder in a decision on Tuesday said farmers from California, Illinois, Florida, Texas and five other states who sued the companies can proceed for now with some claims under federal and state laws.

Schroeder said the farmers can seek an order to force the pesticide makers to end their allegedly anti-competitive conduct. The judge cut a federal antitrust damages claim, but the farmers could be eligible for compensation under some state law claims remaining in the litigation.

Syngenta and lawyers for the plaintiffs declined to comment, and Corteva did not immediately respond to a request for one.

The farmers’ lawsuit alleged Syngenta and Corteva used loyalty agreements and rebate programs with distributors to block generic manufacturers from making inroads into the market. That allowed the companies to charge higher prices, according to the farmers. Syngenta and Corteva have denied the claims.

The lawsuit mirrors a case being pursued by the FTC and a group of states, including California, Texas, Indiana and Illinois. The alleged exclusive-dealing scheme has caused farmers to overpay annually by “many millions,” according to the FTC.

Schroeder of the federal court in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in a ruling last year said the government litigation could move ahead.

Syngenta and Corteva had argued the farmers had not shown how they were harmed, since they said they buy products from distributors and retailers and not from the manufacturers.

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The top U.S. supplier of corn and soy seeds has invested heavily to improve the yields of its products as it bets on the long-term demand for food, feedstock, and biofuels.

The company forecast 2027 revenue to be in the range of $18.2 billion to $18.8 billion (C$25.5 billion to 26.3 billion) , compared with its expected 2024 revenue of about $17.1 billion (C$23.9 billion).

Corteva also predicted $1 billion (C$1.4 billion) in cost declines through 2027, largely due to a fall in commodity prices.

The company projected flat to low-single-digit percentage growth until 2027 compared to 2024 levels for its crop protection segment.

The insecticide maker’s profit has been dented since last year by a slump in demand for insecticides and fungicides as farmers have slowed purchases in the face of lower income and rising costs.

“I think we have taken a conservative view of the market, but we expect it to return to sort of normal growth rates in 2026,” CEO Chuck Magro said at the company’s investor day.

The Indianapolis-based company earlier this month cut its annual sales forecast and reported a larger-than-expected loss for the third quarter due to weak demand and lower prices.

Corteva also said it expects to return about $4.5 billion (C$6.3 billion) to shareholders between 2025 and 2027, after announcing a new buyback program of $3 billion (C$4.2 billion) on Tuesday.

The company’s existing $2 billion ($2.8 billion) share repurchase plan, announced in 2022, had about $750 million (C$1.05 billion) remaining as of Sept. 30.

Shares of the company were up 1.5 per cent in afternoon trade.

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A decline in agricultural commodity prices has forced many farmers to rein in their spending on crop chemicals, hurting companies such as Corteva which makes pesticides and insecticide.

Additionally, demand for crop protection chemicals also remains subdued in South America as floods in one of the top grain producer, Brazil, hit demand.

Corteva’s net sales fell 10 per cent to $2.33 billion (C$3.25 billion) for the quarter ended Sept. 30.

It also cut its sales forecast for the year to $17.0 to $17.2 billion (C$23.7 billion to 24.0 billion), from its previous estimate of $17.2 billion to $17.5 billion (C$24.0 billion to 24.4 billion).

The Indianapolis-based company reported a loss of 49 per share for the July-to-September period, compared with average analysts’ estimate of a loss of 30 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

—Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru

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St. Louis-based U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk ruled on Friday that farmers and other plaintiffs failed to present sufficient allegations that the companies had violated U.S. antitrust law.

The farmers said Bayer and others schemed to collectively boycott electronic “crop inputs” platforms, depriving the ability of farms and other purchasers to make effective cost comparisons for key agricultural materials.

Pitlyk said the plaintiffs’ allegations did not rebut the companies’ claims that their practices served legitimate business purposes. She faulted the plaintiffs for advancing “mere generalizations” in their lawsuit.

Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and BASF, another defendant, welcomed the court’s ruling in separate statements. Bayer said the crop input market is “competitive, fair and diverse.” Corteva said it will continue to “vigorously” compete in agricultural markets.

All of the defendants had denied any wrongdoing.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs at law firms Lockridge Grindal Nauen and Gustafson Gluek declined to comment.

The case includes lawsuits that were filed across the country in 2021. The crop protection chemicals at issue include fungicides, herbicides and insecticides.

Farmers accused wholesale and retail outlets of pressuring manufacturers such as Bayer not to deal with emerging e-commerce platforms that would have opened the crop input market to greater price transparency.

The defendants countered that there was no evidence supporting the plaintiffs’ conspiracy claims, and that any resistance to the electronic platforms “was entirely consistent with each individual defendant’s independent commercial interests.”

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Canada’s Pest Management Review Agency approved Garlon XRT herbicide, the first industrial vegetation product with drone application on the label.

“We are the first company to have a pesticide registered with PMRA for drone application,” said Mark Versluys, specialties business leader for Corteva Agriscience in Calgary.

“There is no other pesticide in Canada that has drone application on the label,” he said.

Versluys said the data collection and processing of the information required for approval took many months before the company received approval from PMRA.

Now, the herbicide can be sprayed by drone under utility right-of-ways, transmission lines, oil and gas leases and on steep mountainous terrain, anywhere Garlon was already registered for use in industrial areas. The approval does not extend to drone spraying for agricultural use.

Versluys said Corteva will continue to collect data and work with PMRA to have other pesticides registered for application by drone in the future.

“This isn’t just a one and done. This is the first step in a very exciting journey,” he said.

“I think the future looks very bright.”

Markus Weber, president of Landview Drones, said while the door is open a crack, PMRA needs to do more to add drone application registration for agricultural use to existing labels. Approving one herbicide at a time will take five to 10 years before there is a large selection of chemistry available for farmers.

Weber said ideally, he would hope PMRA would approve any chemical for drones that is now approved for aircraft.

“To me that is ultimately the way that we need to do this. It can’t just be label by label,” he said at the Agriculture in Motion farm show held northwest of Saskatoon.

In the first hour of the show, more than 120 farmers showed up for a drone demonstration.

“It is incredible. Farmers see this as a tool primarily for three things: brush control, pasture fungicide application and desiccant application.”

Pest control products can’t legally be sprayed by drone, but farmers see the potential, he said.

“Now that drones can fly large acreages and spraying can be done quickly and reliably, they see the potential, but they just can’t because the label doesn’t allow them to.”

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The Indianapolis-based company also forecast higher net sales in 2024, falling in the range of $17.4 billion to $17.7 billion, banking on demand for grain, oilseeds and biofuels.

Though global crop prices have fallen from last year, they remained elevated compared to historical averages, leading to farmers harvesting more to cash in on elevated crop prices.

Corteva, spun off in 2019 after a merger of Dow Chemical and Dupont, reported net sales of $17.23 billion in 2023, staying in the $17-$17.3 billion range that the company had forecasted.

Net sales were at $3.71 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with estimates of $3.62 billion, as per LSEG data.

Sales from seed business were $1.64 billion, down 0.6 per cent due to lower volumes, with farmers delaying purchases due to unfavorable weather in Brazil.

However, this was offset by higher seed prices led by North American and European markets, and increased corn acres in North America.

For the crop protection segment, Corteva’s reported net sales were nearly 5 per cent lower on both falling volumes and prices especially in Latin America, and channel inventory destocking.

Brazil’s drought caused farmers to delay fertilizer purchases for their corn-planting season, denting sales for global fertilizer suppliers including Corteva, which had to sell its Brazilian stock at a discount due to tepid demand.

In 2024, crop markets may face tighter supplies due to adverse El Nino-related weather effects, export restrictions and higher biofuel mandates, analysts said.

Shares of Corteva were down 0.8 per cent after the market closed yesterday.

The operating core profit was 15 cents per share, compared with average analysts’ estimate of 6 cents.

–Reporting for Reuters by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru.

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