ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota-based 3M has officially completed the spin-off of its health care business, the company announced Monday.
Solventum Corporation will now operate as an independent company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SOLV.
"This is an important day for 3M and Solventum, and I extend my sincere congratulations to members of both teams who have made this possible," said Mike Roman, 3M chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement. "Both companies are positioned to pursue their respective growth and tailored capital allocation plans, and I am excited to see both companies succeed as they innovate new solutions and create value for their respective stakeholders."
Meanwhile, in a separate announcement Monday, 3M confirmed that a federal court has given final approval to a previously announced settlement agreement with public water suppliers across the country over potentially dangerous PFAS chemicals, commonly known as "forever chemicals," in drinking water.
BELOW: Watch KARE 11's June 2023 report on the impact of the 3M settlement on Minnesota.
Under the agreement, 3M will commit $10.3 billion over 13 years toward PFAS remediation efforts. The money will go toward more than 12,000 public water systems nationwide. Payments are due to begin in the third quarter of 2024.
"It's a lot of money by anybody's standards. But having said that, the question is, is it enough money?" said labor law expert and Mitchell Hamline School of Law professor David Larson. "I guess there's some debate going on about that. Also, we must keep in mind this settlement is only for public water systems. There's a lot of other concerns about other contamination, of soils, of lakes, so this is not the end of the story."
The final approval of the settlement comes after attorneys general from across the country, including Minnesota and Wisconsin, urged the court to reject the settlement, claiming 3M was being let off too easily, and that water suppliers needed more time to determine remediation costs.
The company had previously settled separately with the state of Minnesota in 2018 for $850 million over the company's production of PFAS that had contaminated the drinking water in the Twin Cities metro.
In 2022, 3M announced it would stop all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025.
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.