Germanys Bayer picks Bill Anderson to succeed Baumann as CEO

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany‘s Bayer on Wednesday named Bill Anderson, most recently head of Roche’s pharmaceuticals division, to succeed Werner Baumann as its chief executive on June 1.

Anderson will join Bayer as a management board member on April 1, 2023, it said, adding that Baumann will work closely with the 56-year-old to ensure a smooth transition before he retires from the drugmaker after 35 years at the end of May.

“Bill has an outstanding track record of building strong product pipelines and turning biotech breakthroughs into products,” Bayer Supervisory Board Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann said in a statement.

Anderson‘s appointment comes after mounting shareholder pressure to remove Baumann, who engineered Bayer’s troubled Monsanto takeover, and install a new leader to revive the German pharmaceutical giants share price.

“Bill Andersons mission is clear: enable Bayer to realize its full potential and create sustainable value for our shareholders, farmers, patients, consumers, employees, and all stakeholders of the company,” Winkeljohann said.

Shares in Bayer rose by 6.5% on the news of the new CEO to the top of Frankfurts blue-chip index.