The acceptance period is now extended to June 14th; however Bayer warned that no further extension would be possible.
“The extension of the acceptance period enables all Schering stockholders to accept our attractive offer within the next two weeks,” commented Bayer management board chairman Werner Wenning.
As of Monday, May 29, 2006, the acceptance rate was 18.49% – still some way short of the 75% threshold.
However, Bayer also announced that Allianz AG, which holds 11.4% of the shares and is thus Schering's largest stockholder, has publicly announced its intention to accept the offer. In the light of this development Bayer said that it is “convinced that the acquisition of Schering will be successfully completed.”