Monday December 29, 2009 Navivest

Shares of chemical maker Dow Chemical (DOW) are off $3.82 or 20.19% after the company announced that the government of Kuwait had cancelled a planned 50-50 joint venture deal.

When the deal was first announced, Dow Chemical announced that it would receive $9.5 billion in cash from Petrochemical Industries Company, while Dow Chemical would contribute the physical assets of the joint venture. This valued the deal at $19 billion.

The new company that was to have been created under the deal, K-Dow Petrochemicals, was envisioned to be a leading global supplier of essential petrochemicals and plastics that manufactured and marketed polyethylene, ethyleneamines, ethanolamines, polypropylene and polycarbonate.

On December 1, 2008, the deal was renegotiated at the behest of the Kuwaiti government and under the new terms of the deal, Petrochemical Industries Company would contribute $7.5 billion for its 50 percent stake and $1.5 billion of that

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The Dow Chemical Company (DOW) is the largest producer of plastics and the second-leading chemical company in the world.Vertical integration keeps costs low. The company's recently completed joint venture agreement with Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) of Kuwait is expected to reduce cyclicality in the chemical business. Further, its merger with Rohm and Haas will consolidate higher margin and higher growth specialty businesses and reduce volatility in earnings and cash flow.However, high raw material costs have forced the company to temporarily idle or reduce production at several of its plants. Further, Dow has a high exposure to the commodity chemical cycle. We expect earnings to remain under pressure and rate the stock a Hold.Read the full analyst report on DOW "DOW" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

The Dow Chemical Company (DOW) is the largest producer of plastics and second-leading chemical company in the world. Vertical integration keeps cost low. Stronger demand in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, India, Middle East and Africa has more than offset the continued economic slowdown in North America. Moreover, price gains have largely offset significant increases in costs of feedstock and energy. The company's recently completed joint venture agreement with Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait is expected to reduce cyclicality in the chemical business. Further, its merger with Rohm and Haas will consolidate higher margin and higher growth specialty businesses and reduce the volatility in earnings and cash flow.However, high raw material costs have forced the company to temporarily idle or reduce production at several of its plants. Further, Dow has a high exposure to the commodity chemical cycle. We expect earnings to remain under ...