Bayer Scouting For Merger Partner?

Helmut Loehr, Bayer's chief financial officer, indicated while addressing investors at a conference organized by Salomon Brothers in London that the chemical and pharmaceutical company is looking for a potential partner to merge with in the field of pharmaceuticals.

However, the group quickly moved to quell speculation that it was about to divest its pharmaceuticals business by saying that it has no immediate plans for a spin-off, although this was one option the company could consider. "We want to strengthen our health care business through internal as well as external growth, and a spin-off is one of many options," a company spokesperson said in a Reuters report.

The hype sent the company's stock upwards (see pages 8 and 9), and speculation grew that another megamerger, such as the formation of Novartis (Marketletters passim), could happen in the German camp. Hoechst's chairman, Jurgen Dormann, has also commented recently that a spin-off is one consideration for the future of its pharmaceutical business, Hoechst Marion Roussel (Marketletters passim).