Other years: 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1998
In 1999 a total of €356 million was spent on acquisitions. The purchase prices of the foreign acquisitions are translated at the exchange rates in effect at the respective dates of acquisition.
On April 1, 1999 Bayer purchased the global polycarbonate and polyester plastic sheet business of the Dutch chemicals group DSM for €172 million. The acquisition comprises two companies – Axxis N.V. in Belgium and Sheffield Plastics Inc. in the United States.
The assets of the Australian company Laserlite, also a manufacturer of plastic sheet, were acquired on March 15, 1999 for €15 million.
Effective October 31, 1999, our U.S. subsidiary Rhein Chemie Corporation acquired the business and the assets of Elastochem, Inc., one of the leading American suppliers of customized additives and specialties for the rubber industry, for €61 million.
In 1999 we concluded a five-year research agreement with LION Bioscience AG of Heidelberg, Germany, with the aim of applying modern genomics and information technologies more efficiently to research and develop innovative drugs and diagnostic markers for the Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics business groups. As part of this cooperation, Bayer purchased an 11.28 percent interest in LION on August 26, 1999 for €28 million.
On December 17, 1999 we acquired the remaining 33.3 percent of the shares of Bayer Polímeros S.A., Brazil. This manufacturer of acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene (ABS) plastics is now a wholly owned subsidiary. Under the agreement reached when we first purchased an interest in 1997, the price paid for the remainder of the shares was €19 million.
On February 1, 1999, our subsidiary Bayer plc purchased 100 percent of the shares of pbi Home & Garden Limited, United Kingdom, from Sumitomo Corporation of Japan for €13 million. The acquisition of this company, which supplies plant protection products and fertilizers for amateur gardeners, marked our entry into Europe’s second largest market for home garden products.
Our Diagnostics Business Group acquired the oncology diagnostics business – headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts – of OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. on December 2, 1999 for €11 million. The acquisition, effected through our U.S. subsidiary Bayer Corporation, comprises mainly patents and know-how in the field of cancer diagnostics.
The most significant divestiture during 1999 was the sale of 70 percent of the stock of Agfa-Gevaert N.V. of Belgium. On June 1, 1999, Bayer disposed of 70 million shares – one half of its total holding – to private and public investors by way of an initial public offering at an offer price of €22 per share. In addition, the Belgian holding company Gevaert N.V. acquired 20 percent of the shares – 15 percent at the time of the stock market listing and a further 5 percent on August 31, 1999 – also for €22 per share. Gevaert N.V. has the option of purchasing from Bayer a further interest in Agfa-Gevaert N.V., amounting to at most 10 percent of the stock, within one year from the date of purchase of its initial holding.
