Credit Suisse Betting On Freshly Merged DowDuPont To Outperform

Kicking off coverage one week into the $130 billion mega-merger of the Dow Chemical Company and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont), Credit Suisse is betting on DowDuPont Inc DWDP to successfully integrate. The firm applied an Outperform rating on the new stock.

2 Into 1 Equals 5?

Dow Chemical and DuPont proclaimed their merger complete on Sept. 1 and said they would break into a set of more-specialized companies within the next two years.

Credit Suisse analyst Christopher S. Parkinson is betting that the process will proceed relatively smoothly and set a price target of $73. It was trading at $64.40, down less than a percentage point at last check.

Though the company initially said it would break into three publicly traded companies, Parkinson said he expects the spinoffs to be four or perhaps five, along these lines: Health & Nutrition, Industrial BioSciences, Agriculture, Material Sciences and Specialty Chemicals.

Potential risks include delays in splitting the company up, slower synergies, costlier integration, a slower global economy and rising prices for raw materials.

Related Link: Mixed Earnings Expectations For Merger Hopefuls