Corteva faces lawsuits over Vylor spinoff and PFAS liabilities

Corteva has completed the spinoff of its seed and genetics business into a new independent company called Vylor. The separation, finalized on October 1, 2026, leaves Corteva as a pure crop protection company while Vylor assumes the seed franchise, which recorded $9.9 billion in net sales in 2025.

A bipartisan group of fifteen U.S. states and the territory of Guam have filed a lawsuit in Indiana state court, alleging the spinoff was a fraudulent transfer intended to shield Corteva’s most profitable assets from tens of billions of dollars in potential PFAS “forever chemicals” liabilities. The plaintiffs argue that Vylor received the company’s “crown jewels” without assuming responsibility for environmental contamination linked to legacy DuPont products.

Corteva has defended the move, stating that the states’ PFAS claims are “speculative and unproven” and noting that the company itself never manufactured or sold PFAS products. Financial records indicate that prior to the spinoff, Vylor issued $1.1 billion in bonds and drew bank lines to fund an estimated $3.5 billion cash distribution to the historical E.I. du Pont entity, which retains the legacy PFAS liabilities.