PITTSBURGH, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer Corporation, of Pittsburgh, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer AG, Germany, has completed its acquisition of
Sybron Chemicals Inc., a U.S.-based producer of polymers and specialty
chemicals.
Bayer recently received clearance from anti-trust authorities and
concluded the tender offer for Sybron Monday, Oct. 23. The transaction was
valued at approximately $325 million, including assumed debt.
The acquisition provides Bayer's global Coatings and Colorants Business
Group (Polymers segment) and global Specialty Products Business Group
(Chemicals segment) access to new technologies and products. It also allows
the groups to expand their product offerings in the NAFTA region. Along with
Health Care and Agriculture business segments, Polymers and Chemicals make up
the Bayer Group's core activities.
In the polymer intermediates business, the Sybron acquisition gives Bayer
expertise and a good market position in the NAFTA region for raw materials for
powder coating -- an environmentally friendly industrial coating technology.
The same is true of Sybron's business in functional polyesters outside the
powder coatings field. Both of these activities complement Bayer's
polyurethane hardeners business.
Substantial synergy comes from combining Sybron's North American polymer
intermediates business with the worldwide distribution structure of Bayer's
Coatings and Colorants Business Group. Other advantages for Bayer result from
the combined purchase volume of raw materials and services.
The acquisition also will significantly improve the market position of
Bayer's Specialty Products Business Group in North America and Europe,
particularly its Textile Processing Chemicals and Special Fields unit.
As of 1999, all of Bayer's activities in the coatings, pigments, dyes and
adhesives fields were placed into the Coatings and Colorants Business Group.
With 4,800 employees worldwide, the business group increased sales in 1999 by
11 percent to EUR 1.73 billion ($1.67 billion). Further growth of 16 percent
was recorded in the first half of 2000.
Bayer Specialty Products Business Group products include specialty
chemicals for the textile, leather and paper industries, ion exchange resins,
water chemicals, polymer additives, and ingredients for wood and industrial
preservatives. It has 3,800 employees worldwide and achieved revenues of EUR
1.15 billion ($1.11 billion) in 1999, an increase of 3 percent over the prior
year. Sales grew by 12 percent in the first six months of 2000.
During the first half of 2000, Sybron Chemicals' revenues rose by
10 percent to $147.13 million and the company recorded an operating profit of
$15.22 million. It had 900 employees as of the end of 1999.
SOURCE Bayer Corporation
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CONTACT:
Mark A. Ryan of Bayer Corporation,
412-777-2500, or E-Mail, mark-a.ryan.b@bayer.com; or Gunter
Forneck of Bayer AG, +49 214 30 50446, or E-Mail,
guenter.forneck.gf@bayer-ag.de; or Steven F. Ladin of Sybron
Chemicals, 609-893-1100, or E-Mail, sladin@sybronchemicals.com
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