Corteva Is Breaking Up. It’s the Latest Twist in a Long M&A Saga.

Coming into Wednesday trading, Corteva stock was up about 19% year to date. (GEOFF Robins/AFP via Getty Images)

Key Points

• Corteva plans to separate into two companies, one for pesticides and other chemicals, and another for seeds, to enhance shareholder value.
• The new seed company, SpinCo, is projected to have 2025 net sales of $9.9 billion, while Corteva’s chemical business is estimated at $7.8 billion.
• The split is expected to go through in the second half of 2026.

Corteva , a provider of seeds and agricultural chemicals, plans to break into two companies, hoping to create shareholder value.

On Wednesday, the company said it would continue to sell pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides under the name Corteva, while a new company, called SpinCo, will take the seed business.

Corteva’s 2025 net sales are estimated to be $7.8 billion, 44% of the current company’s total. SpinCo’s 2025 net sales are estimated to be $9.9 billion.

Investors aren’t so sure about the idea. Corteva stock dropped 9.1%, closing at $61.47, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively. Coming into Wednesday trading, Corteva’s stock was up about 19% year to date and up about 17% over the past 12 months.

“The seed and crop protection markets have evolved, and as a result, we see the opportunities ahead for both companies diverging,” said CEO Chuck Magro in a news release. “This separation will allow both businesses to maximize long-term value creation by focusing on their own priorities.”

Magro will become CEO of SpinCo. A Corteva CEO will be named later. The spin is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.

Corteva has its roots in Dow, Inc. and DuPont de Nemours , which merged in 2017 to form DowDuPont, only to split up in 2019. Three companies emerged: Dow, Inc., which makes commodity chemicals; DuPont, which makes specialty materials; and Corteva, the combination of Dow’s agricultural business and DuPont’s Pioneer seeds business.

“Over the past six years, we have taken deliberate steps to build a strong, successful technology company: we simplified our portfolio, reduced cost, invested in high-return endeavors, and ensured our pipeline would maximize impact to farmers and returns to the company,” Magro said. “As a result, Corteva has become the clear industry leader, with market-leading positions in both crop protection and seed.”

In a few months, the once-huge DowDuPont will be five companies. Dow, Corteva, SpinCo, and two businesses created from DuPont. DuPont announced plans to split into three companies in 2024 and amended those plans to two companies in 2025. One will be dedicated to materials technology and another to serving electronics end markets.

Coming into Wednesday trading, Corteva, Dow, and DuPont have a combined market value of about $95 billion. DowDuPont’s market value was roughly $150 billion in early 2019, ahead of the first three-way breakup.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com