Berlin, Germany, October 6-- Drugmaker Bayer AG on Wednesday announced plans to spin off chemicals and polymers business Lanxess at the beginning of next year, a move designed to help it focus on health care and other core activities.
The spinoff plan, which requires approval from an extraordinary shareholders' meeting Nov. 17, would see Bayer stockholders given one share in Lanxess for every 10 Bayer shares they own, the company said.
Bayer has carved out Lanxess as part of a wider restructuring plan. Lanxess has about 20,000 employees, half of whom work in Germany.
The spinoff will leave Bayer with about 93,500 employees worldwide, the Leverkusen-based company said. It added that Bayer would take one-time charges of about US$94 million) this year for moving its lower-margin chemicals and polymers activities to Lanxess and spinning off the business.
The two companies will continue to trade with each other and jointly operate chemical park sites, Bayer said.
"Lanxess will be one of the largest chemical companies in Europe," Bayer chief executive Werner Wenning said in a statement. "As an independent enterprise, it will have more scope to improve its competitiveness in the future."
