BAYRY - Bayer adds activist Jeff Ubben to sustainability council - report

• Bayer AG ( OTCPK:BAYZF ) has added activist Jeff Ubben to an independent, outside council of experts that advises the German chemicals and drug maker on sustainability.
• Ubben, who runs activist fund Inclusive Capital Partners and previously headed ValueAct, may not be satisfied with the position as its informal and less powerful than being on a board, according to a Financial Times report on Sunday, which cited people familiar. Uben doesn't believe that having a board seat and being on the sustainability council are "mutually exclusive," he told the FT.
• The news comes after Ubben said in an interview with the FT last month that he wants the company to hire a chief executive from outside the company. Bayer ( OTCPK:BAYRY ) announced earlier this month that Bill Anderson , the former head of Roche’s ( OTCQX:RHHBY ) pharmaceuticals division, would become the company’s new CEO April 1.
• Ubben's Inclusive Capital Partners hedge fund disclosed it had acquired a 0.83% stake in the company. The fund said it acquired 8.18M Bayer ( OTCPK:BAYZF ) shares as of January 5, or more than €407M (~$435M).
• Bayer ( OTCPK:BAYRY ) shares have been weighed down by the threat of further litigation over alleged carcinogenic effects of its weedkiller Roundup; the stock's market value for all its businesses totals ~$60B,  below the $63B deal value for its 2018 takeover of Roundup-maker Monsanto.
• Ubben's push also come after a Bloomberg report last month that Bluebell Capital Partners has built an undisclosed stake in Bayer ( OTCPK:BAYRY ) and wants the company separate its crop sciences business from its drug business.

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