By Ludwig Burger and Arno Schuetze
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Bayer <BAYGn.DE> is inviting financial investors to bid for its 60 percent stake in chemical park operator Currenta after initially failing to agree a sale to its former chemicals subsidiary Covestro <1COV.DE>, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Bayer, which is focussing on healthcare and crop protection after the takeover of U.S. seed maker Monsanto, has mandated Morgan Stanley <MS.N> to help with the transaction. Buyout firms and infrastructure investors have been asked to put in initial bids by mid-October, the sources said.
Currenta, which operates infrastructure facilities at German chemical complexes in Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen, could be valued at more than 1 billion euros (890 million pounds), or possibly more than 2 billion, according to one of the sources.
Covestro, Morgan Stanley and Bayer declined to comment.
(Editing by Tassilo Hummel)