Those investors who hope for many more corporate firings at first cheered the unusual "merger of equals," carefully calibrated to avoid U.S. investment profits taxes. Both companies' share prices rose Dec. 11 when Dow boss Andy Liveris joined Breen to announce the deal, along with a planned 2017 spin-off into three companies: genetically modified seeds and pesticides; plastics and other commodity materials; and high-tech specialty products. Each of the three is to be stitched together from pieces of Dow and DuPont.