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Dow wins $2.16 billion
in Kuwait arbitration

NEW YORK - Kuwait’s state-run chemical company must pay Dow Chemical Co $2.16 billion under an arbitrator’s ruling for wrongly cancelling a planned plastics joint venture in 2008, Dow said on Thursday.

The ruling against Petrochemical Industries (PIC) of Kuwait by the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court is final and binding. It is believed to be one of the largest-ever arbitration awards, according to Dow’s law firm, Shearman and Sterling LLP. Kuwait pulled out of the planned $17.4 billion “K-Dow” petrochemical joint venture as the global economy sunk into the deep recession nearly four years ago, triggering charges from Dow that the move violated its agreements. PIC is a unit of the Kuwait Petroleum Corp.

“This outcome brings resolution and closure to the issue,” Andrew Liveris, Dow‘s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

“We remain focused on continuing to move forward with our transformation and profitable business partnerships — both in Kuwait and around the world.” A spokeswoman for Dow said it was not yet known when the company would receive the money from PIC. Dow and PIC currently operate four other joint ventures, including ME Global, EQUATE, Kuwait Olefins Co and Kuwait Styrene Co. Kuwait’s Petrochemical Industries, under pressure from lawmakers, cancelled a contract to form a 50-50 venture with Dow’s plastics unit in December 2008.

The failure of the so- called K-Dow venture deprived Dow of a $9 billion payment during the global financial crisis and nearly derailed its 2009 purchase of Rohm & Haas Co. Dow cut its dividend by 64 percent in February 2009, the first reduction in company history, as it struggled to complete the Rohm & Haas deal.