Bayer: All subgroups and service companies now separate legal entities

05-Jan-2004

The reorganization of the Bayer Group into a holding structure has been completed: Bayer MaterialScience AG (formerly the Bayer Polymers business area), Bayer Business services GmbH and Bayer Industry Services GmbH & Co. OHG have now been entered in the commercial register as separate legal entities. "We have thus achieved the goal set in December 2002 on schedule," comments Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Group Management Board. "The holding structure gives us the flexibility we need to respond to the altered operating conditions and implement the recent decision on a strategic realignment of our portfolio, including the separation of large parts of our industrial business into an independent company listed on the stock exchange." Bayer MaterialScience AG is expected to report sales of around EUR7.4 billion (basis: 2003) and will concentrate primarily on innovation-driven products. That means focusing on polycarbonate and polyurethanes as key technologies. In these areas the company ranks among the world market leaders. H.C. Starck and Wolff Walsrode, two separate subsidiaries, will be transferred from Bayer Chemicals AG to Bayer MaterialScience in the course of 2004.

The rubber and rubber chemicals, styrenics and semi-crystalline thermoplastics activities, which were formerly assigned to the Polymers business area, the subsidiary Rhein Chemie and the fibers operations are to be combined with Bayer Chemicals and listed on the stock market as a separate company with a new name by early 2005 at the latest.

"Bayer MaterialScience stands for high-quality and innovative engineering materials, strong brands and high-tech processes," according to Dr. Hagen Noerenberg, Chairman of the Board of Management of this Bayer subsidiary. "Our customers benefit from the established know-how and expertise of our employees. As a separate company within the Bayer Group, we will have the scope to ensure profitable growth and a flexible response - for the benefit of our customers and business partners."

Bayer Business Services (BBS) is the service center for business support, IT and scientific services within the Bayer Group. Formed from Bayer's former central service divisions, it has rapidly developed into a market-oriented company as Professor Gottfried Plumpe, Head of Bayer Business Services, reports: "BBS' strengths are the experience and expertise of its employees. This means we can tailor our solutions and services precisely to the needs and requirements of our customers."

Bayer Industry Services (BIS) owns and operates the largest Chemical Park in Germany, comprising Bayer's sites in Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld. "We are focusing on our role as a customer-oriented service provider by ensuring optimal operating conditions - ranging from utilities and waste management to analytical services, infrastructure, safety and technical services," explains Dr. Jürgen Hinz, Head of Bayer Industry Services. "In other words, we secure competitive advantages for Bayer's subgroups and our other 25 customers at the Chemical Park and help them create value." The company also provides a wide range of services extending beyond the Chemical Park.

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