DuPont: Breakup plan would cost at least $4B

The DuPont Co. said activist investor Trian Fund Management's plan to break up the 212-year-old chemical maker would cost at least $4 billion.

The expenses include taxes, separation costs, and refinancing and reissuing debt, Wilmington-based DuPont said in a presentation filed with regulators on Monday. Creating a second set of corporate functions and reduced tax efficiency would cost an additional $1 billion a year, DuPont said.

Trian is seeking four seats on the company's board, part of a plan to eliminate what it says are as much as $4 billion in excess corporate costs. Nelson Peltz, the New York-based fund's chairman and chief executive officer and a nominee for one of the seats, has said the best way to reduce costs is by separating faster-growing businesses such as agriculture from more cyclical units.

DuPont said in Monday's presentation that a breakup would hurt growth by damaging its research and development efforts, diminishing global reach and brand, and hurting market access.

A Trian spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the DuPont presentation.