Following reorganisation, the Bayer Group announced on November 7 that it intends to maintain its focus on its core businesses and in the future concentrate on health care, nutrition and innovative materials. For this reason, Bayer Chemicals (excluding H C Starck and Wolff Walsrode) is to be combined with certain parts of the polymers business in a new company with the provisional name ‘NewCo’. Effectively the company is spinning-off its chemicals and polymers businesses which includes leather chemicals.
The aim is for this company to be listed on the stock market under a new name by early 2005 at the latest. The Supervisory Board approved these plans of the group management board. CEO designate of the new company is Dr Axel Claus Heitmann (44), currently a member of the executive committee of Bayer Polymers and head of that company’s Asia region, headquartered in Shanghai.
