Macquarie to acquire Currenta from Bayer and Lanxess for €3.5bn

German pharma company Bayer and specialty chemicals company Lanxess have signed corresponding agreements with Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) to sell their stakes in Currenta, a chemical park operator, for an enterprise value of €3.5 billion.

Currenta, a joint venture of Bayer and Lanxess, manages and operates infrastructure, energy supply and other essential services across the chemical parks in Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany.

Bayer’s 60% stake in Currenta has an equity value of approximately €1.17 billion and its extensive package of real estate and infrastructure has an equity value of approximately €180 million.

Lanxess 40% stake in Currenta has an equity value of approximately €780 million pre-tax. The company is also entitled to profit participation until completion of the deal.

Both the companies have also signed an agreement with MIRA on long-term service and supply contracts.

Bayer and Lanxess to sell Currenta to Macquarie. Photo courtesy of Bayer AG.

Commenting on the sale of Currenta, Dr. Hartmut Klusik – member of the Board of Management and Labor Director of Bayer, said: “We are delighted to announce that in MIRA, the world’s leading infrastructure asset manager, we have found the right partner to drive the successful development of Currenta while leveraging its international expertise.

“In addition, MIRA has a long term focus and will also be a reliable employer for Currenta’s employees.”

MIRA, which is active in Germany for 30 years, said it has extensive experience in Currenta’s core business areas, including utilities, transport, logistics, storage, waste management, and treatment services.

Subject to the approval of the responsible authorities, Bayer expects its transaction to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Lanxess expects its part of the transaction to close by the end of April 2020 as it will provide MIRA with operational support during the transition phase.

In November 2018, Bayer announced its plans to sell its stake in Currenta to focus on its core activities while the sale of stake is expected to provide Lanxess an additional financial leeway to drive its growth in specialty chemicals.

Bayer with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition employed around 117,000 people and had sales of €39.6 billion in fiscal 2018.

With sales of €7.2 billion in 2018, Lanxess currently has about 15,400 employees in 33 countries and is represented at 60 manufacturing plants across the globe.

MIRA is a part of Australian multinational independent investment bank and financial services company Macquarie Group and managed €115 billion in assets as on 31 March 2019, including 155 portfolio businesses, approximately 600 properties and 4.7 million hectares of farmland.