Patrick Thomas: New CEO of Bayer MaterialScience AG

Tuesday - January 2, 2007 - Leverkusen – Patrick Thomas (49) was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer MaterialScience AG on January 1, 2007. “I am here to make a really good business even better,” said the new CEO on taking up office. Thomas succeeds Dr. Hagen Noerenberg, who ended his active employment with the Bayer Group as planned at the end of 2006.

Patrick Thomas was born on September 30, 1957 in Portsmouth, U.K. He graduated from Oxford University with an engineering degree in 1979. The same year he began his career with British chemicals company Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). Until 1989 he held a number of positions with ICI Pharmaceuticals and Agrochemicals (which became Zeneca in 1993) in the U.K. In 1989 Thomas transferred to Belgium to join ICI Polyurethanes, undertaking various management assignments until in 1993 he was named Regional Director for Europe, Africa & the Middle East. Four years later he was appointed global CEO.

In 1999, Thomas joined U.S. chemicals company Huntsman Corporation as President of the Polyurethanes, Performance and Advanced Materials Divisions, also based in Belgium. In 2003 he was named Corporate Executive Vice President of Huntsman MatlinPatterson. After a brief spell as a management consultant for various private-equity companies he joined Bayer MaterialScience on August 15, 2006.

Patrick Thomas is Chairman of the Oxford University Business Economics Programme Board (OUBEP) and Lecturer at The Windsor Leadership Trust. He is married and has four children.

With sales of EUR 10.7 billion in 2005, Bayer MaterialScience AG is one of the world’s largest polymer manufacturers. Its main fields of activity are the production of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of everyday life. The main consumer sectors are the automotive, electrical/electronics, construction, sports and leisure industries. Bayer MaterialScience has production facilities at 40 sites around the world and a workforce of approx. 18,800. Bayer MaterialScience is part of the Bayer Group.

More news and information about products, applications and services of Bayer MaterialScience can be found at www.bayerbms.com. Further company facts and figures are outlined at www.facts.bayerbms.com


Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in our public reports filed with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 20-F). The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

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Dr. Wolfgang Reichmann

Head of Corporate Policy Media Relations and PR

Bayer MaterialScience AG

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