| UPDATE (09-10-01): Sale Expected To Close Thursday, Sept. 13 |
According to a Sept. 10, 2001, wire report, Bayer's supervisory board is expected to give its blessing to the planned acquisition of the CropScience business jointly owned by Aventis and Schering AG. |
 The headquarters of German Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany. (AP Photo/Hermann J. Knippertz) |
BERLIN - Germany's Bayer AG hopes to conclude talks this month on buying French-based pharmaceutical firm Aventis' CropScience agrochemicals business, a Bayer spokesman said Monday. The deal is expected to be announced in the next two weeks, according to a Reuters news report.
"The talks are going well," Guenter Forneck said. "Both sides hope to conclude them in September."
The Wall Street Journal, citing "people close to the talks," reported Monday that Bayer had agreed to buy CropScience for nearly $5 billion, plus the assumption of $1.8 billion in debt.
Forneck declined to confirm that to Reuters. However, Bayer last month indicated the deal could be between $6.4 billion and $6.8 billion.
Bayer and Aventis, along with Berlin-based Schering AG, announced in July that they were in exclusive talks on a sale of CropScience (see Bayer Confirmed As Front Runner For Aventis CropScience Purchase).
 The headquarters of Franco-German drugs giant Aventis, Schiltigheim, France. (AP Photo/Frank Delhomme) |
Aventis said in November 2000 it would divest CropScience by the end of this year to focus on its pharmaceuticals business.
Aventis holds 76 percent of CropScience, based in Lyon, France, and Schering holds the remaining 24 percent.
"We're still in exclusive talks," Schering spokesman Oliver Renner told Reuters. He added that an agreement was expected soon, but said consultations are still under way with labor representatives.
Aventis CropScience has annual sales of $3.6 billion and employs about 15,300 people worldwide.
CropScience would more than double Bayer's existing business in the field, according to Reuters, propelling it to number two from number six in the $33-billion-a-year agrochemicals global market, just behind Switzerland's Syngenta AG.