Bitterfeld, January 24, 2008 – Effective immediately, Viverso GmbH, established January 1, 2008 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bayer MaterialScience AG and headquartered in Bitterfeld, Germany, has assumed production and marketing of the traditional coating resins in the product range of the Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants (CAS) Business Unit. These include alkyd resins (Alkydal®), unsaturated polyesters (Roskydal®) and hydroxyacrylates (Desmophen® A) for the formulation of a wide variety of surface coatings such as coatings for automobiles, household appliances and furniture, anti-corrosion coatings and knifing fillers. Viverso will continue to provide customers with the products at the accustomed levels of quality with high supply reliability. With the creation of 10 new jobs, Viverso is also a symbol for the continued, sustainable growth of the chemical industry in Bitterfeld.

“We are very pleased that as a subsidiary of Bayer MaterialScience AG, Viverso GmbH chose to set up its headquarters on the grounds of Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH. This decision further strengthens Bitterfeld as an industrial site,” said Dr. Hans-Joachim Raubach, Managing Director of Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH. “We wish Viverso a lot of success with its new business concept and as its site partner look forward to contributing to that success with our services.”

“Standardized order handling allows Viverso to tap substantial potentials for boosting efficiency and reducing costs. This is a decisive factor for success in a market for mature products,” explained Rüdiger Held, Managing Director of the company in Bitterfeld which employs roughly 150 people. Alone the concentration of all business activities at a single site has enabled many processes to be greatly simplified.

“What makes Viverso special is its innovative business model, the core of which is an Internet-based sales concept – a first in the industry. That makes us somewhat of a pioneer,” added Held. Viverso is backing high efficiency in production and sales and maximum orientation on the needs of the customer to allow it to profitably market long-established, mature products. “We have decided to offer our customers only what they really need. And we do that simply, quickly, reliably and efficiently – with our Internet platform. For many customers, in particular those with relatively low purchase volumes, many Bayer raw materials have become significantly less expensive since the launch of Viverso. This provides a powerful incentive, particularly in a price and cost-driven market,” said Held.

Viverso accepts orders from registered customers directly via its website (www.viverso.com). After logging in, the customer simply chooses the product, quantity, packaging, transport modalities and the desired delivery date. That's all there is to it. The customer can then track the status of its order online right up to the time of delivery, and can even view analysis certificates on the Internet while the goods are still in transit. There are simple rules and cost-based fixed prices for special business transactions such as ordering of samples or change orders.

A team of sales specialists, web designers and technicians developed this platform in just under a year. This was followed by several months of testing with selected customers, during which the platform was tailored to their needs.

With the 60,000 tpa coating resins plant in Bitterfeld, Viverso has a modern, high-capacity production facility that will allow it to reliably supply the approximately 80 product grades in the accustomed high, consistent quality in the future. “We shipped the first drums of coating resin in early January, and there has already been great interest in our platform. Our offer makes us an attractive partner not only for the previous coating resins customers of the CAS BU, but also for new customers,” added Held confidently.

About Bayer MaterialScience:
With 2006 sales of 10.2 billion euros (continuing operations), Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction, and the sports and leisure industries. At the end of 2006, Bayer MaterialScience had 30 production sites and employed approximately 14,900 people around the globe. Bayer MaterialScience is a Bayer Group company.

About Viverso:
Viverso GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bayer MaterialScience AG headquartered in Bitterfeld, produces and sells traditional coating resins using an innovative, Internet-based business model. Established at the start of 2008, the company employs some 150 people.

About Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH:
Approximately 850 people are employed at four different companies at the Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH site. In addition to Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH's pharmaceutical production facilities, with Aspirin as their main product, the site is also home to chemical plants producing ion exchange resins for water softening and demineralization, methyl cellulose as an additive for construction materials and conventional coating resins for a wide variety of applications. The site is an initiative of Bayer AG to promote development in the former East Germany. More than 640 million euros were invested there between 1992 and 2003.