OREANDA-NEWS. Bayer AG closed on its previously announced agreement to sell its Diabetes Care business to Panasonic Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd., a company which is backed by funds sponsored by leading global investment firm KKR and the Panasonic Corporation. The total consideration for the transaction is around EUR 1 billion (JPY 132 billion). The new stand-alone Diabetes Care business is named Ascensia Diabetes Care Holdings and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.

The sale includes the leading Contour™ portfolio of blood glucose monitoring meters and strips, as well as other products such as Breeze™2, Elite™ and Microlet™ lancing devices. Bayer’s Diabetes Care business accounted for EUR 909 million in sales in 2014.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2014, the Group employed around 119,000 people and had sales of EUR 42.2 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.5 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 3.6 billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015.