The capital stock of Bayer AG totaling EUR 1,956,715,315.20 is divided into 764,341,920 no-par shares. In view of the class of stock (bearer shares), the company does not have a share register like companies that issue registered shares. Data on its ownership structure therefore have to be compiled by conducting special surveys.
An international survey conducted in May 2008 which included around 515 institutional investors covered 72 percent of the capital stock. The following regional overview of stock ownership is based on the results of this survey.
Non-German investors hold 82 percent of the capital stock identified in the latest survey, reflecting the Bayer Group’s international presence and the significance of its stock on international financial markets. The U.S.A. and the U.K. account for the largest proportion of non-German-owned stock.
Basis: 550,285,941 identified shares (72 percent of the capital stock)
Source: D.F. King Ltd., May 2008
As of December 31, 2007, 1.02 percent of the company’s capital stock was held by employees in German securities accounts. These shares are not included in the above survey.
Bayer offers a range of stock programs to enable employees to participate in the success of the company.
Under the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz), holders of voting securities of a listed German company must notify that company of the level of their holding whenever it reaches, exceeds or falls below specified thresholds. These thresholds are 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50 and 75 percent of the company’s outstanding voting securities.
The Capital Group Companies, Inc., U.S.A., has notified us pursuant to Section 21, Paragraph 1 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG) that the proportion of voting rights it holds in our company exceeded the 10 percent threshold on September 19, 2006 and that since that date it has held 10.0179 percent of the voting rights. The Capital Research and Management Company, U.S.A., which according to our information is a subsidiary of The Capital Group Companies, Inc., also has notified us that the proportion of voting rights it holds in our company exceeded the 10 percent threshold on November 8, 2006 and that since that date it has held 10.0852 percent of the voting rights.
At present, no other shareholder has notified us that it has exceeded the German Securities Trading Act's treshold of 3 percent.