Bayer Sees No Quick Fixes After Bankers Game Out Breakup

  • Company hired banks to study different breakup scenarios
  • Conclusion was that Bayer needs to take time to finish review

The Bayer AG pharmaceutical campus in Berlin, Germany.

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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Bayer AG hired several teams of bankers for a strategy simulation game that studied various breakup scenarios, according to people familiar with the matter. Their conclusion: Sweeping changes to the troubled German conglomerate won’t be easy.

The Leverkusen-based company hired two separate teams as it explored the pros and cons of a breakup, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private. Team Red simulated an activist campaign calling for splitting up Bayer’s businesses, the people said. Team Blue advised on how to respond to the approach.