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☆ Exclusive-Bayer investor Artisan calls for breakup of company
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Richa Naidu | Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Artisan wants the drugs-to-pesticides company to find new owners for its over-the-counter and pharmaceutical units, it said. Before taking over as CEO, Anderson said he was keeping an open mind on whether to break up the company. Artisan is Bayer’s 16th biggest investor, according to Refinitiv data. Samra said the chairman of Bayer’s supervisory board, Norbert Winkeljohann, has not directly written a letter back to Artisan, but said Artisan had “been in contact” with the company. Samra said Artisan “has not suggested specifically how (Bayer) should restructure their business” in the letter.

Persons: “, Wolfgang Rattay, Bill Anderson, Roche, Anderson, ” David Samra, Bayer, ” Samra, they’re, ” Bayer, Werner Baumann, Samra, Norbert Winkeljohann, China’s Syngenta, Johnson Organizations: Bayer, Artisan Partners, Reuters, Bayer AG, REUTERS, Bluebell Capital Partners, Artisan, Artisan’s, Science, pharma, Johnson, GSK Locations: Leverkusen, Germany, Swiss

FRANKFURT, May 17 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) investors on Wednesday questioned the sustainability of the lender's growth plans and called for a shift of resources from the investment bank, even as they praised CEO Christian Sewing for stabilising the bank. Andreas Thomae of the Deutsche Bank investor Deka said that the bank's targets require a "tailwind" from the markets to be achievable, and rising interest rates have been "pure adrenaline" for the bank. Reuters GraphicsShe called on the bank to shift capital from its investment bank to other areas in the bank that yield higher returns. "Deutsche Bank is one of the European banks most dependent on investment banking, a poorly predictable, opaque business that is driving down its stock valuation," she said. Sewing, who won kudos from some of the investors for restoring profitability, responded that the bank was "robustly and sustainably profitable".

☆ Bayer picks outsider Anderson as CEO after investor pressure
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

News of the CEO change sent the German drugs-to-pesticides giant's shares to their highest level in nearly eight months. Shares in Bayer closed up 6% on the news of the new CEO, reaching the top of Frankfurt's blue-chip index and hitting their highest level since June last year. "Bill Anderson's mission is clear: enable Bayer to realize its full potential and create sustainable value for our shareholders, farmers, patients, consumers, employees, and all stakeholders of the company," Winkeljohann added. Sources told Reuters earlier this week that activist investor Jeff Ubben had contacted fellow investors to drum up support for big changes at Bayer, including the swift replacement of Baumann. Reporting by Patricia Weiss, Kirsti Knolle and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Tom Sims and Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The campaign increases the pressure on non-executive Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann, who has faced calls from large shareholders for the swift replacement of Chief Executive Werner Baumann, who engineered Bayer's troubled Monsanto takeover. The approaches come after Ubben's activist investment fund Inclusive Capital Partners said last month it had bought a 0.83% stake in Bayer. David Herro, deputy chairman of Harris Associates, told Reuters in brief emailed comments that Ubben had contacted him to discuss Bayer. A spokesperson said Bayer was always open to a constructive dialogue with shareholders and declined to comment further. Investors who have publicly called for a swift CEO change hold at least a combined 6.7% in Bayer, according to Refinitiv data.

FRANKFURT, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A top-10 shareholder of Bayer (BAYGn.DE) on Tuesday called on the group's supervisory board head to replace chief executive Werner Baumann quickly, adding to investor pressure to restore trust and revive the German drugmaker's sagging share price. But shareholders have also cited a lack of market trust in its top management as a growing burden. "When it comes to CEO succession we say: the sooner the better," Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Union Investment, one of Bayer's 10 biggest shareholders, told Reuters. Union Investment's Manns cautioned that the non-executive supervisory board may need time to find a qualified candidate. A Bayer spokesperson said the company was always open to a constructive dialogue with shareholders and declined to comment further.

☆ Bayer investor calls for swift replacement of CEO -newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Bayer (BAYGn.DE) investor Deka has called for CEO Werner Baumann to be replaced ahead of his scheduled departure, adding to mounting pressure on the German drugmaker. "There is a window of opportunity for Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann to act before the annual general meeting at the end of April. He has to seize that opportunity, otherwise the pressure on him will increase as well," Speich added. "Generally speaking we are always open to a constructive dialogue with our stakeholders," a Bayer spokesperson said, declining to comment specifically on the interview. Another activist investment fund, hedge fund veteran Jeffrey Ubben's Inclusive Capital Partners, said this month it had also acquired a stake in Bayer.

☆ Bayer investor criticizes company chair for lack of initiative
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Bayer (BAYGn.DE) investor Union Investment criticized Bayer's chair for a lack of engagement, such as exploring a spin-off of the company's consumer health division, according to an interview in WirtschaftsWoche. Bayer is facing demands from activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners to break up, with a sale of the company's consumer health unit and, at a later stage, for a separation of Bayer's pharmaceuticals and agriculture businesses. Bayer Chair Norbert Winkeljohann "does seek dialogue with investors, but he should have initiated more," Markus Manns, portfolio manager at Union Investment, told WirtschaftsWoche. "It would definitely have been a matter for the supervisory board to help initiate a spin-off of Consumer Health," Manns added. "But generally speaking we are always open to a constructive dialogue with our stakeholders," the spokesperson said.

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