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Cover and table of contents
2020
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
| (Mark One) | ||||||||
| ☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
| OR | ||||||||
| ☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Commission File Number 001-38710
Corteva, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
| Delaware | 82-4979096 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (State or other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 974 Centre Road, | Wilmington, | Delaware | 19805 | (302) | 485-3000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) | (Registrant’s Telephone Number, including area code) |
Commission File Number 1-815
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
| Delaware | 51-0014090 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (State or other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 974 Centre Road, | Wilmington, | Delaware | 19805 | (302) | 485-3000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) | (Registrant’s Telephone Number, including area code) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act for Corteva, Inc.:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
| Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share | CTVA | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act for E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
| $3.50 Series Preferred Stock | CTAPrA | New York Stock Exchange | ||||||
| $4.50 Series Preferred Stock | CTAPrB | New York Stock Exchange |
No securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer (as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act).
Corteva, Inc. Yes x No o
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
Corteva, Inc. Yes o No x
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Corteva, Inc. Yes x No o
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).
Corteva, Inc. Yes ý No o
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Yes ý No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.
Corteva, Inc. ý
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company ý
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of "accelerated filer and large accelerated filer" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Corteva, Inc. | Large Accelerated Filer | x | Accelerated Filer o | Non-Accelerated Filer | o | Smaller reporting company o | Emerging growth company o | ||||||||||||||||
| E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company | Large Accelerated Filer | o | Accelerated Filer o | Non-Accelerated Filer | x | Smaller reporting company o | Emerging growth company o |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Corteva, Inc. o
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
Corteva, Inc. Yes ý No o
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Yes ý No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).
Corteva, Inc. Yes o No ý
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Yes o No ý
The aggregate market value of voting stock of Corteva, Inc. held by nonaffiliates of the registrant (excludes outstanding shares beneficially owned by directors and officers and treasury shares) as of June 30, 2020 was $20.0 billion.
As of February 4, 2021, 744,062,000 shares of Corteva, Inc's common stock, $0.01 par value, were outstanding.
As of February 4, 2021, all of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company’s issued and outstanding common stock, comprised of 200 shares, $0.30 par value per share, is held by Corteva, Inc.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company meets the conditions set forth in General Instruction I(1)(a), (b) and (d) of Form 10-K (as modified by a grant of no-action relief dated February 12, 2018) and is therefore filing this form with reduced disclosure format.
Note on Incorporation by Reference
Information pertaining to certain Items in Part III of this report is incorporated herein by reference to portions of Corteva, Inc.'s definitive 2021 Annual Meeting Proxy Statement to be filed within 120 days after the end of the year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, pursuant to Regulation 14A (the Proxy).
CORTEVA, INC.
Form 10-K
Table of Contents
Explanatory Note
This Annual Report on Form 10-K is a combined report being filed separately by Corteva, Inc. and EID. Corteva, Inc. owns all of the common equity interests in EID, and EID meets the conditions set forth in General Instruction I(1)(a), (b) and (d) of Form 10-K and is therefore filing its information within this Form 10-K with the reduced disclosure format. Each of Corteva, Inc. and EID is filing on its own behalf the information contained in this report that relates to itself, and neither company makes any representation as to information relating to the other company. Where information or an explanation is provided that is substantially the same for each company, such information or explanation has been combined in this report. Where information or an explanation is not substantially the same for each company, separate information and explanation has been provided. In addition, separate consolidated financial statements for each company, along with notes to the consolidated financial statements, are included in this report.
The primary differences between Corteva and EID's financial statements relate to EID's Preferred Stock - $4.50 Series and EID's Preferred Stock - $3.50 Series, a related party loan between EID and Corteva, Inc. and the associated tax deductible interest expense for EID, and the capital structure of Corteva. Inc. (See EID's Note 1 - Basis of Presentation to EID's Consolidated Financial Statements, for additional information for above items). The separate EID financial statements and footnotes for areas that differ from Corteva, are included within this Annual Report on Form 10-K and begin on page F-89. Footnotes of EID that are identical to that of Corteva are cross-referenced accordingly.
Part I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to:
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"Corteva" or "the company" refers to Corteva, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (including EID);
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"EID" refers to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and its consolidated subsidiaries or E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company excluding its consolidated subsidiaries, as the context may indicate;
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"DowDuPont" refers to DowDuPont Inc, and its subsidiaries prior to the Separation of Corteva;
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"Historical Dow" refers to the Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries prior to the Internal Reorganization;
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"Historical DuPont" and "Historical EID" refers to EID prior to the Internal Reorganization as defined on page 4;
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"Dow" refers to Dow Inc. after the Dow Distribution defined below;
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"DuPont" refers to DuPont de Nemours, Inc. after the Separation of Corteva; and
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"DAS" refers to the agriculture business of Historical Dow, Dow AgroSciences.
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"Merger" refers to the all-stock merger of equals strategic combination between Historical Dow and Historical DuPont.
Background
On June 1, 2019, Corteva, Inc. became an independent, publicly traded company through the previously announced separation (the “Separation”) of the agriculture business of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (formerly known as DowDuPont Inc.) (“DuPont” or "DowDuPont"). The separation was effectuated through a pro rata distribution (the “Corteva Distribution”) of all of the then-issued and outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Corteva, Inc. Refer to the Internal Reorganization discussion below for further information.
Subsequent to the Merger, Historical Dow and EID engaged in a series of internal reorganization and realignment steps to realign their businesses into three divisions: agriculture, materials science and specialty products. As a result of the Internal Reorganization (defined below), on May 31, 2019, EID was contributed to Corteva, Inc. and, as a result, Corteva, Inc. owns 100% of the outstanding common stock of EID. Prior to March 31, 2019, Corteva, Inc. had engaged in no business operations and had no assets or liabilities of any kind, other than those incident to its formation.
EID continues to be a reporting company and is deemed to be the predecessor to Corteva, Inc., with the historical results of EID to be deemed the historical results of Corteva for periods prior to and including May 31, 2019. Shares of EID preferred stock, $3.50 Series and $4.50 Series, issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Separation remain issued and outstanding and were unaffected by the Separation.
Corteva is a leading global provider of seed and crop protection solutions focused on the agriculture industry. The company is focused on advancing its science-based innovation, which aims to deliver a wide range of improved products and services to its customers. Through the merger of the EID and DAS innovation pipelines, Corteva has one of the broadest and most productive new product pipelines in the agriculture industry. The company intends to leverage its rich heritage of scientific achievement to advance its robust innovation pipeline and continue to shape the future of responsible agriculture. New products are crucial to solving farmers’ productivity challenges amid a growing global population while addressing natural resistance, regulatory changes, safety requirements and competitive dynamics. The company’s investment in technology-based and solution-based product offerings allows it to meet farmers’ evolving needs while ensuring that its investments generate sufficient returns. Meanwhile, through Corteva’s unique routes to market, the company continues to work face-to-face with farmers around the world to deeply understand their needs.
The company's broad portfolio of agriculture solutions fuels farmer productivity in approximately 140 countries. See Note 24 - Geographic Information, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for details on the location of the company's sales and property.
Internal Reorganizations and Business Separations
Subsequent to the Merger, Historical Dow and EID engaged in a series of internal reorganization and realignment steps to realign their businesses into three subgroups: agriculture, materials science and specialty products through a series of tax-efficient transactions (collectively, the "Business Separations”). Effective as of 5:00 pm ET on April 1, 2019, DowDuPont completed the previously announced separation of its materials science business into a separate and independent public company by way of a distribution of Dow Inc. (“Dow”) through a pro rata dividend in-kind of all of the then-issued and
Part I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS, continued
outstanding shares of Dow’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, to holders of DowDuPont's common stock, as of the close of business on March 21, 2019 (the “Dow Distribution” and together with the Corteva Distribution, the “Distributions”).
Prior to the Dow Distribution, Historical Dow conveyed or transferred the assets and liabilities aligned with Historical Dow’s agriculture business to separate legal entities (“Dow Ag Entities”) and the assets and liabilities associated with its specialty products business to separate legal entities (the “Dow SP Entities”). On April 1, 2019, Dow Ag Entities and the Dow SP Entities were transferred and conveyed to DowDuPont.
In furtherance of the Business Separations, EID engaged in a series of internal reorganization and realignment steps (the “Internal Reorganization” and the "Business Realignment," respectively) to realign its businesses into three subgroups: agriculture, materials science and specialty products. As part of the Internal Reorganization:
-
the assets and liabilities aligned with EID’s materials science business, including EID’s ethylene and ethylene copolymers business, excluding its ethylene acrylic elastomers business, (“EID ECP”) were transferred or conveyed to separate legal entities (the “Materials Science Entities”) that were ultimately conveyed by DowDuPont to Dow;
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the assets and liabilities aligned with EID’s specialty products business were transferred or conveyed to separate legal entities (“EID Specialty Products Entities”);
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on April 1, 2019, EID transferred and conveyed its Materials Science Entities to Dow;
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on May 1, 2019, EID distributed its Specialty Products Entities to DowDuPont;
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on May 2, 2019, DowDuPont conveyed Dow Ag Entities to EID and in connection with the foregoing, EID issued additional shares of its common stock to DowDuPont; and
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on May 31, 2019, DowDuPont contributed EID to Corteva, Inc.
On May 6, 2019, the Board of Directors of DowDuPont approved the distribution of all the then issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Corteva, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of DowDuPont, to DowDuPont stockholders. On June 1, 2019, DowDuPont completed the Separation. Each DowDuPont stockholder received one share of Corteva, Inc. common stock for every three shares of DowDuPont common stock held at the close of business on May 24, 2019, the record date of distribution. Corteva, Inc.'s common stock began trading the "regular way" under the ticker symbol "CTVA" on June 3, 2019, the first business day after June 1, 2019. Upon becoming an independent company, the capital structure of Corteva consisted of 748,815,000 authorized shares of common stock (par value of $0.01 per share), which represents the number of common shares issued on June 3, 2019.
As a result of the Business Realignment and the Internal Reorganization discussed above, Corteva owns 100% of the outstanding common stock of EID, and EID owns 100% of DAS. EID is a subsidiary of Corteva, Inc. and continues to be a reporting company, subject to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Separation Agreements
In connection with the Distributions, DuPont, Corteva, and Dow (together, the “Parties” and each a “Party”) have entered into certain agreements to effect the separation, provide for the allocation of DowDuPont’s assets, employees, liabilities and obligations (including its investments, property and employee benefits and tax-related assets and liabilities) among the Parties, and provide a framework for Corteva's relationship with Dow and DuPont following the separations and Distributions. Effective April 1, 2019, the Parties entered into the following agreements:
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Separation and Distribution Agreement - Effective April 1, 2019, the Parties entered into an agreement that sets forth, among other things, the agreements among the Parties regarding the principal transactions necessary to effect the Distributions. It also sets forth other agreements that govern certain aspects of the Parties’ ongoing relationships after the completion of the Distributions (the "Corteva Separation Agreement").
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Tax Matters Agreement - The Parties entered into an agreement effective as of April 1, 2019, as amended on June 1, 2019, that governs their respective rights, responsibilities and obligations with respect to tax liabilities and benefits, tax
Part I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS, continued
attributes, the preparation and filing of tax returns, the control of audits and other tax proceedings and other matters regarding taxes.
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Employee Matters Agreement - The Parties entered into an agreement that identifies employees and employee-related liabilities (and attributable assets) to be allocated (either retained, transferred and accepted, or assigned and assumed, as applicable) to the Parties as part of the Distributions and describes when and how the relevant transfers and assignments would occur.
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Intellectual Property Cross-License Agreement - Effective as of April 1, 2019 Corteva and Dow, and effective June 1, 2019, Corteva and DuPont, entered into Intellectual Property Cross-License Agreements. The Intellectual Property Cross-License Agreements set forth the terms and conditions under which the applicable Parties may use in their respective businesses, following each of the Distributions, certain know-how (including trade secrets), copyrights, and software, and certain patents and standards, allocated to another Party pursuant to the Corteva Separation Agreement.
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Letter Agreement - DuPont and Corteva entered into a Letter Agreement. The Letter Agreement sets forth certain additional terms and conditions related to the Separation, including certain limitations on each party’s ability to transfer certain businesses and assets to third parties without assigning certain of such party’s indemnification obligations under the Corteva Separation Agreement to the other party to the transferee of such businesses and assets or meeting certain other alternative conditions.
Business Segments
The company’s operations are managed through two reportable segments: seed and crop protection. The seed segment develops and supplies commercial seed combining superior germplasm with advanced traits to produce high yield potential for farmers around the world. The crop protection segment supplies products to protect crop yields against weeds, insects and disease, enabling farmers to achieve optimal results. The combination of these leading platforms creates one of the broadest portfolios of agriculture solutions in the industry. Additional information with respect to business segment results is included in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, on page 54 of this report and Note 25 - Segment Information, to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Seed
The seed segment is a global leader in developing and supplying commercial seed combining advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms around the world. The company’s seed segment is a leader in many key seed markets, including North America corn and soybeans, Europe corn and sunflower, as well as Brazil, India, South Africa and Argentina corn. The company offers trait technologies that improve resistance to weather, disease, insects and herbicides used to control weeds, and trait technologies that enhance food and nutritional characteristics. In addition, the company provides digital solutions that assist farmer decision-making with a view to optimize product selection and, ultimately, help maximize yield and profitability.
Part I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS, continued
Details on the seed segment’s net sales by major product line and geographic region (based on customer location) are as follows:
Products and Brands
The seed segment’s major brands and technologies, by key product line, are listed below:
| Seed Solutions Brands | Pioneer®; Brevant™ seeds; Dairyland Seed®; Hoegemeyer®; Nutech®; Seed Consultants®; AgVenture®; Alforex®; PhytoGen®; Pannar®; VP Maxx®; HPT®; G2®; Supreme EX®; XL®; Power Plus® | ||||
| Seed Solutions Traits and Technologies | ENLIST E3® soybeans; ENLIST® cotton; EXZACT™ Precision Technology; HERCULEX® Insect Protection; Pioneer® brand hybrids with Leptra® insect protection technology offering protection against above ground pests; POWERCORE® Insect Trait Technology family of products; Pioneer® brand Optimum® AcreMax® family of products offering above and below ground insect protection; REFUGE ADVANCED® trait technology; SMARTSTAX® Insect Trait Technology; NEXERA™ canola; Omega-9 OilsTM; Pioneer® brand Optimum® AQUAmax® hybrids; Pioneer® brand A-Series soybeans; Pioneer® brand Plenish® high oleic soybeans; ExpressSun® herbicide tolerant trait; Pioneer® brand products with Pioneer Protector® technology for canola, sunflower and sorghum; Pioneer MAXIMUS® rapeseed hybrids; Qrome® corn products; Clearfield® canola; PROPOUND™; Conkesta™; Conkesta E3® soybeans; WideStrike® Insect Protection; WideStrike® 3 Insect Protection | ||||
| Other | LumiGEN® seed treatments, LUMIDERM®, LUMIVIA® and LUMIALZA™; GRANULAR®; ACREVALUE®; Granular® Insights™ (e.g. LANDVisor™) |
U.S. federal regulatory authorizations have been obtained for the commercialization of ENLIST™ corn, ENLIST E3® soybeans and ENLIST® cotton, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's registration of ENLIST DUO® and ENLIST ONE® for use with ENLIST™ corn, soybeans and cotton in 34 states. The company has also secured cultivation authorizations of ENLIST E3® soybeans and ENLIST™ corn in Argentina, Brazil, and North America.
In 2020, Corteva signed an agreement with J.G. Boswell Company to purchase the remaining 46.5 percent interest in PhytoGen® Seed Company, LLC – a joint venture between the two companies. With a 100% ownership position in PhytoGen® Seed Company, LLC, Corteva became the sole owner of the intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, proprietary germplasm and information, as well as know-how.
Part I
Next: Item 1. BUSINESS, continued