The Enquirer

Bayer AG's plastics plant on River Road in Addyston is now operating under the name Lanxess Corp., as the German chemical giant moves a step closer to the divestiture announced last November.

By early next year, Bayer plans to sell or spin-off to shareholders Lanxess, now a wholly owned subsidiary comprised of parts of its polymers and chemicals businesses.

Lanxess, which focuses on commodity polymers and rubbers, had revenues last year of more than $4 billion. The Addyston plant, which produces acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, a resin used to make durable plastic parts, employs more than 400. Bayer acquired it from Monsanto in late 1995.