Bayer Investor Harris Sees Potential in Breakup of German Conglomerate
- Harris Associates portfolio manager sees ways to extract value
- Bayer has plunged 60% since takeover of Monsanto in 2018
Bayer’s three main units are all "good businesses," but they probably don’t belong under one roof, according to Harris Associates, which owns a roughly 4% stake in the German firm.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergBayer AG is facing renewed calls for a breakup, with a top investor urging Chief Executive Officer Bill Anderson to reshape the unwieldy German conglomerate and unlock “huge potential” from its three main units.
Bayer’s three divisions — dedicated to crop science, pharma and consumer health — are all “good businesses,” but they probably don’t belong under one roof, according to David Herro, portfolio manager at Harris Associates LP, which owns a roughly 4% stake. Anderson needs to lay out a better ownership plan by Bayer’s capital markets day in early March, Herro said.