Elliott Management held preliminary talks with private equity firms over a potential carve-out of Bayer’s consumer health business, as the activist investor weighs re-engaging with the conglomerate.

The discussions come amid renewed investor interest in consumer health assets. Bayer’s over-the-counter business, which includes brands like Aspirin, Claritin, and Alka-Seltzer, reported €5.9bn in revenue and €1.3bn in EBITDA in 2024.
Although buyout groups expressed interest, Bayer is unlikely to pursue a spin-off in the short term, given the scale of its ongoing restructuring.

Under CEO Bill Anderson, Bayer is one year into a sweeping turnaround plan that includes overhauling its management model, improving its pharmaceutical pipeline, and addressing underperformance in its crop sciences unit. The company is still dealing with billions in legal liabilities tied to glyphosate lawsuits inherited from its $63bn Monsanto acquisition in 2018.

Elliott previously built a $1bn position in Bayer in 2019 but does not currently hold a stake. Its recent outreach highlights continued pressure on Bayer to break up its conglomerate structure. Union Investment’s portfolio manager Markus Manns said a carve-out of the consumer health unit could unlock significant shareholder value, calling Bayer’s structure “incomprehensible” compared to peers in the sector.

The renewed private equity interest follows Clayton Dubilier & Rice’s €16bn acquisition of Sanofi’s consumer health business in 2023, underscoring the attractiveness of these assets in the current deal environment.