Leverkusen, December 17, 2014 - Bayer HealthCare has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its equine products Legend®/Hyonate® (hyaluronate sodium) and Marquis® (ponazuril) to Merial, Inc. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter 2015 subject to customary conditions, including relevant merger control clearance.

"This transaction will allow our business to focus on innovation and growth in core segments for both companion and farm animals," said Dr. Dirk Ehle, Head of Bayer HealthCare's Animal Health Division. "These equine products have no strategic relevance for our business and represent less than 2 percent of our worldwide sales."

Hyaluronate sodium, marketed worldwide for over two decades as Legend® or Hyonate®, is an injectable solution that treats noninfectious joint dysfunction in horses.

Marquis® (ponazuril) Antiprotozoal Oral Paste, marketed in North America for over a decade, treats equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) - a disease that affects the central nervous system in horses.

About Bayer HealthCare
The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of EUR 18.9 billion (2013), is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Medical Care and Pharmaceuticals divisions. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover, develop, manufacture and market products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Bayer HealthCare has a global workforce of 56,000 employees
(Dec 31, 2013) and is represented in more than 100 countries. More information is available at www.healthcare.bayer.com.

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This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

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