IPO Best Option for BMS

Bayer says IPO of MaterialScience remains preferred option

FRANKFURT, March 11 Wed Mar 11, 2015 4:54am EDT inShare Share this Email Print (Reuters) – Bayer's Chief Executive Marijn Dekkers said on Wednesday that the drugmaker still preferred selling its MaterialScience division via an initial public offering rather than transferring the subsidiary to its shareholders in a cash-free spin-off.

Speaking in Berlin to investors in a presentation broadcast on Bayer's website, he reiterated that the first day of trading for the unit, which makes transparent plastics and foam chemicals, was slated for some time towards the end of this year and the first half of 2016.

MaterialScience would become a legally and economically self-contained company by August, according to the slides posted on the website.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Kirsti Knolle)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/11/bayer-outlook-ipo-idUSL5N0WD1J920150311