Indianapolis-based Corteva Inc. is considering splitting its seed and pesticide businesses into separate companies, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday, citing “people familiar with the matter.”
The agribusiness giant, which has a market value of about $50 billion, could disclose its plans soon, the newspaper reported.
A Corteva spokesman did not immediately respond Saturday morning to an email from IBJ seeking comment on the report.
Separating Corteva’s seeds business from its pesticides unit could help shield the seeds business from future liabilities, if any, related to pest and weed-killing chemicals, according to the report.
Corteva reported $17 billion in sales last year, with more than $9.5 billion coming from the seed business and $7.4 billion generated by the pesticides business.
Several major U.S. companies have been part of a corporate wave of restructuring this year, including Warner Bros Discover, Kraft Heinz and Honeywell.
Corteva made Indianapolis its global headquarters in early 2022. It has more than 20,000 employees worldwide, including about 1,500 on its Zionsville Road campus, about 15 miles northwest of downtown. The campus features 14 buildings, 42 greenhouses and dozens of labs where workers produce new products to help farmers increase yield and control insects, fungus and weeds.
Its signature seed brand, Pioneer, is a household name with farmers.
The company has Indianapolis roots. Eli Lilly and Co. and Dow Chemical Co. in 1989 formed DowElanco, a joint venture meant to produce agricultural products. In 1997, Dow acquired full ownership and renamed the operation Dow AgroSciences.
In 2015, Dow and DuPont announced plans to merge, then divide into three independent companies. A year later, the merged companies became DowDuPont, with Indianapolis being named as one of its “global business centers.”
In 2018, Corteva Agriscience was unveiled as the agricultural division’s new name. (“Cor” is Latin for “heart,” and “teva” is ancient Hebrew for “nature.”) A year later, DowDuPont spun off Corteva as an independent company.
In 2017, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. signed an agreement under which Corteva would create 600 additional jobs in central Indiana by 2028 in exchange for up to $26 million in conditional tax credits. The city of Indianapolis also gave the company $30 million in incentives to remain in the city under its new corporate structure.
Corteva’s stock price rose 1.7%, to $75.55 per share, in after-hours trading following Friday’s report.