Bayer MaterialScience (BMS, Leverkusen / Germany; www.bayermaterialscience.com) plans to sell its wholly owned subsidiary, polyurethane processing equipment manufacturer Hennecke (St. Augustin / Germany; www.hennecke.com). A deal should be concluded by the end of 2007, a spokesman confirmed to PIE. According to BMS, a strategic partnership would give the company whose portfolio includes presses, laminators, mould carriers, turntables, conveyors, bulk storage, and full system control panels, "improved chances for continued growth."

Alongside its 400 employees at St. Augustin, Hennecke employs 150 in the US and China. Its US arm, Hennecke Machinery (Lawrence, Pennsylvania), operates at a site near Pittsburgh. In 2006, the company founded a joint venture in China, Hennecke-Maruka Kakouki Shanghai, with Japanese partner MEG-Maruka Kakouki (Nishikamo-Gun, Aichi; www.meg-maruka.co.jp).

In Europe, Hennecke competes with such firms as Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik (KM, Munich / Germany; www.krauss-maffei.de) and Cannon (Trezzano sul Naviglio / Italy; www.thecannongroup.com). After running up losses from 2003 to 2005, the BMS subsidiary is believed to have emerged from the red last year. Although figures have not been published yet, unofficial reports suggest that sales rose to more than EUR 70m.