Siemens AG to Buy Bayer's Diagnostic Division

The Bayer Group (Leverkusen, Germany, www.bayer.com) plans to sell the diagnosticsdivision of Bayer HealthCare to Siemens AG (Munich, Germany, www.siemens.com) for EUR 4.2 billion ($5.36 billion).

"This decision is fully in line with our strategy for systematicallyaligning our health care business. We are concentrating onpharmaceuticals for both humans and animals, and products that can bepromoted directly to patients," explained Bayer AG Management BoardChairman Werner Wenning.

The systems business of the diagnostics division, with its emphasis onhardware, information technology networking and comprehensive equipmentservice, is subject to different success factors than the other BayerHealthCare divisions, the company explained. "We are convinced that thesuccessful laboratory equipment business has even better long-termdevelopment prospects in a company specializing in medical technology,"said Wenning.

The move to divest its diagnostics business follows Bayer's pendingacquisition of Schering AG (Berlin, Germany, www.schering.de). 

The consumer-influenced diabetes care division is not affected byBayer's divestment of its diagnostic business, nor is the contrastagents (diagnostic imaging) business of Schering AG, which will becomean important part of the future Bayer Schering Pharma AG.

The divestment was approved today by Bayer's supervisory board. Closingof the transaction is expected for the first half of 2007, subject tothe approval by the antitrust authorities.

For Bayer the after-tax proceeds of the divestment will be about EUR3.6 billion ($4.6 billion).