Bayer AG may be eying the sale of its $10 billion plastics unit in order to better focus on its healthcare business,? according to Bloomberg.
Bayer MaterialScience, the North American headquarters for the business unit, is based in Robinson and? has 1,200 employees in the Pittsburgh area.
Bloomberg reported that the German company is reviewing options for Bayer MaterialScience after Evonik Industries showed potential interest in the business unit some months ago, but no decision has been made.
This wouldn't be the first move?Bayer has made to exit a large portion of its chemicals portfolio. In 2004 the company spun off its?Lanxess AG subsidiary, which maintains a North American headquarters in Pittsburgh.
On Monday, Bayer reported net income of $1.96 billion, up 23 percent from the year-ago quarter. The company said the strong results reflected an improvement in its healthcare business.
Sales in the first quarter for the MaterialScience devision grew by 5 percent, to €2.8 billion.
