Bayer has sold the 15 percent interest in KWS Saat AG that passed into its ownership when it acquired Aventis CropScience in 2002 to private investors Tessner Beteiligungs GmbH and Dr. Arend Oetker. In divesting the shares Bayer has fulfilled a contractual obligation it assumed at the time it acquired the French company.

The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.