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Announcing An Important News Break!
Bayer Sells Plasma Unit to U.S. Investors
Monday December 13, 8:57 am ET
Bayer Sells Plasma Unit to U.S. Investors for $590 Million in Cash and Stock
BERLIN (AP) -- Bayer AG, the German drug and chemical company, has agreed to sell its plasma products business for $590 million in cash and stock to the private U.S. investment groups Cerberus Capital Management and Ampersand Ventures.
Bayer said Monday the sale is part of a broader strategic shift in its health care business. It will retain production of Kogenate, a hemophilia treatment.
NPS BioTherapeutics, Inc., a new company controlled by affiliates of Cerberus and Ampersand, will take over the plasma business unit, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Bayer keeps a 10 percent equity interest in NPS. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2005, subject to regulatory approval.
About 1,600 people work for the plasma division in the United States.
Bayer began selling peripheral businesses and seeking partners for core units after a string of setbacks, including the 2001 withdrawal of the anti-cholesterol drug Lipobay, following a link to patient deaths. Lipobay is also known as Baycol.
"Divesting the plasma business is another important step in the repositioning of our health care business," Bayer chief executive Werner Wenning said in a statement.
Bayer has scrapped plans to find a partner for its drug business and chosen to keep it independent, narrowing its focus to Europe and to fields where it has successful products.
A year ago, Bayer announced plans to close a biotechnology research center in Kyoto, Japan and slim down another in California, cutting more than 200 jobs.
The Leverkusen-based company also said it would transfer biotechnology pipeline projects from a center in Berkeley, Calif., to facilities in West Haven, Conn., and Wuppertal, Germany.
Bayer shares were up 0.2 percent Monday at 24.42 euros ($32.35) on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
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