Digital Securities
Apollo Closes €3 Billion Investment in Bayer LARC Entity as KKR Joins
Add Securities.io to your preferred sources on Google
Apollo Global Management (N7I.DE ) said on September 16, 2026 that Apollo-managed funds and affiliates have closed a €3 billion capital solution for Bayer, completing a transaction first announced on July 10, 2026. KKR has joined Apollo as a significant minority participant in the investment, according to Apollo’s closing announcement, which was distributed via GlobeNewswire with a New York and Leverkusen, Germany, dateline. The announcement refers to the Apollo-managed funds and affiliates collectively as Apollo. Bayer’s July announcement of the agreement did not name KKR as a participant. Apollo is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker APO.
According to the announcement, Apollo, together with KKR, invested equity capital into a newly established entity holding Bayer’s long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) business. Bayer retains a majority stake in the entity and continues to exercise full operational control over the business, and there are no changes to the LARC strategy as a result of the investment.
Apollo Partner Jamshid Ehsani said, “We are proud to serve as a capital partner to Bayer, originating and leading a multi-billion-euro capital solution tailored to their needs. Bayer, a global life sciences leader and iconic German company, represents the types of large, blue-chip companies we serve through our High Grade Capital Solutions business.”
Ehsani added that Apollo has committed to deploying more than $100 billion in Germany over the coming decade. He said Bayer exemplifies the kind of strategic, long-term partnership Apollo seeks to build with the country’s most important companies.
Structure Agreed in July
Bayer’s July 10, 2026 announcement states that the company had secured 3.0 billion euros in equity capital to improve its capital structure and had signed the agreement on Friday in Leverkusen with Apollo, the global asset management firm. Under the agreement, Apollo-managed funds and affiliates were to obtain a minority, non-controlling stake in the newly established LARC entity.
Bayer said it would retain a majority stake in the entity and would continue to exercise complete operational control over the business, with no changes to the LARC strategy or business activities as a result of the investment. The LARC activities will continue to form part of the Bayer Pharmaceuticals Division’s core business, and the entity will remain fully consolidated in the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Bayer Group. The release carried a timestamp of 07:55 a.m. in the Europe/Amsterdam time zone.
“This transaction represents a strategic financing solution that strengthens our capital structure while preserving full operational control over this core pharmaceuticals business,” Bayer CFO Dr. Judith Hartmann said in the July announcement. “It enhances our financial flexibility as we manage increased liquidity requirements this year related to bond maturities and litigation procedures, while continuing to execute our long-term priorities.”
Ehsani said at the signing that Apollo was proud to invest in Bayer’s LARC business. He said the transaction reflected the core purpose of Apollo’s High Grade Capital Solutions platform, which provides large, flexible, and bespoke capital to blue-chip corporations, and that it enabled Bayer to strengthen its balance sheet while retaining full operational control over a core business.
Conditions and Advisors
Bayer said in July that the transaction was expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to approval by antitrust authorities and customary closing conditions. Apollo’s September 16 announcement, issued within that third-quarter window, confirms that the Apollo-managed funds and affiliates have successfully closed the capital solution.
Bayer was advised by BofA Securities and Deutsche Bank (DB ) as financial advisors and by Linklaters LLP as legal advisor, according to the July announcement. Centerview Partners served as financial advisor to the Apollo Funds. Latham & Watkins LLP, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and NautaDutilh N.V. are legal counsel to the Apollo Funds; Bayer’s July announcement identified the same three firms in that role at signing.
