Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) filed a motion late Wednesday to
disqualify Rohm & Haas Co.'s (ROH) law firm Wachtell, Lipton,
Rosen and Katz from conducting discovery against Dow and examining
Dow's witnesses.
Rohm has sued Dow in Delaware Chancery Court to force the
completion of Dow's $15.3 billion deal to purchase Rohm, which had
been set to close late last month.
Dow said it sought the disqualification from those proceedings
because of Wachtell's representation of it in some other matters
directly related to the current litigation. The company said it
does not seek a blanket disqualification of Wachtell from the
case.
A Rohm spokeswoman said Thursday Dow Chemical's motion was a
"litigation tactic that has no merit."
Meanwhile, a judge Thursday denied Dow's application to delay
the start of a trial on a specific plan for the merger agreement.
The trial is due to start March 9 after the Delaware court late
last month agreed to handle the case on an expedited basis at
Rohm's request, according to the Delaware Law Weekly.
Dow Chemical, the world's third-largest chemicals group by
revenue, said earlier this week it could face multiple debt
defaults if forced to consummate its proposed acquisition of Rohm
before it has stable financing.
Meanwhile, a $1.55 billion fourth-quarter loss highlights the
company's continuing exposure to the weakening commodity-chemicals
business. That is why it was seeking to spin its basic-chemicals
operations into a now-failed joint venture with Kuwait and buy Rohm
& Haas, which would get Dow Chemical into higher-margin
segments.
Earlier Thursday, hedge fund Paulson & Co. urged Dow
Chemical to complete the buyout, saying it could cut its dividend
to a nominal 1 cent a share from 42 cents and sell common stock and
bonds to pay off the $13 billion in bridge financing needed to
complete the deal. Paulson is Rohm & Haas's second-largest
shareholder.
Dow's shares were recently down 1.6% at $10.60 and Rohm's were
up 1.5% at $54.55.
-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089;
kerry.grace@dowjones.com