Cinven buys Bayer’s environmental science business for $2.6bn

The conditions for closing the transaction – including the receipt of regulatory approval – have now been met, and the purchase price for the business, which generated sales of approximately 600 million euros in 2021, was $2.6 billion.

“We thank the employees of Environmental Science Professional for their many years of commitment and the associated success of Bayer. In Cinven, we have found a strong new owner with a firm commitment to the long-term growth potential of the business and to its people,” said Rodrigo Santos, member of the board of directors of Bayer AG and head of the company’s crop science division.

“At the same time, we can concentrate on our core agricultural business and the successful implementation of our growth strategy in the crop science division,” he added.

Bayer will use the net proceeds from the transaction to reduce its net financial debt.

The divested business will operate as an independent company called Envu. The business is a global leader offering solutions to control pests, disease and weeds in non-agricultural areas such as vector control, professional pest management, vegetation management, forestry, and turf and ornamentals. It is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, US, and is active in over 100 countries. Nearly 900 employees in total will transfer from Bayer to Envu.

“Envu is a global leader in a highly attractive and critical industry. We thank Bayer for the trust they have placed in Cinven and plan to build on the strong foundations established by Bayer by significantly investing in it,” said Pontus Pettersson, partner at Cinven.

“Cinven is excited to build an independent, focused company and is well positioned to continue to drive innovation and accelerate growth, including the delivery of digital and data-enabled solutions, and to extend the product portfolio further by creating innovative and sustainable solutions for its customers,” he added.

Envu was founded in 2022, a new company built on years of Bayer experience, for the sole purpose of advancing healthy environments for everyone. Envu’s portfolio consists of over 180 trusted and well-known brands. The company employs nearly 900 people and operates in more than 100 countries with four global innovation hubs.

For its part, Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. In fiscal year 2021, Bayer employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 44.1 billion euros.

Posse Herrera Ruiz acted as Colombian local counsel to Cinven, with a team led by partner Jaime Herrera, with associate Christian Díaz Ordónez.