Apollo-managed funds and affiliates have completed a €3 billion capital solution for Bayer, with KKR joining the transaction as a significant minority participant.
Apollo originally announced the transaction in July and confirmed on September 16 that the financing had closed. The deal represents a large customized capital investment in one of Germany’s largest life sciences companies.
Under the structure, Apollo and KKR invested equity capital into a newly established entity holding Bayer’s long-acting reversible contraceptives, or LARC, business.
Bayer retains a majority ownership position in the new entity and continues to exercise full operational control.
The investment does not change Bayer’s existing strategy for the LARC operations.
The transaction illustrates the growing use of structured capital solutions by major corporations seeking additional financial flexibility without necessarily selling control of strategically important businesses.
In Bayer’s case, the company retains majority ownership and operational responsibility while bringing in institutional capital from Apollo and KKR around the contraceptives business.
Apollo originated and led the transaction through its High Grade Capital Solutions business.
The strategy is designed to provide customized capital to large, established companies using structures that can sit between traditional corporate debt and full business disposals.
Bayer fits the type of borrower and corporate partner Apollo is targeting through the strategy: a large global company with significant assets and operating businesses that can support tailored financing structures.
The investment also deepens Apollo’s exposure to Germany.
Apollo said it has committed to deploying more than $100 billion in the country during the coming decade and described Bayer as representative of the long-term strategic relationships it wants to establish with major German companies.
That commitment gives additional context to the €3 billion transaction.
Rather than viewing the Bayer deal as an isolated investment, Apollo is positioning it within a broader effort to provide capital to large German companies through private markets and structured financing.
The deal also brings together two of the world’s largest alternative asset managers.
KKR is participating as a significant minority investor alongside Apollo, giving the transaction additional institutional capital while leaving Apollo in the lead role.
Apollo managed approximately $1.05 trillion in assets as of June 30, 2026.
Its investment platform spans investment-grade credit through private equity, while its Athene business provides retirement products and institutional solutions.
KKR operates across private equity, credit, real assets, capital markets and insurance and participates in the Bayer investment through its broader alternatives platform.
For Bayer, the capital solution provides €3 billion of external equity investment around an existing business while preserving majority ownership and operational control.
Bayer operates primarily across healthcare and nutrition. In fiscal 2025, the company generated €45.6 billion in sales, employed approximately 88,000 people and spent €5.8 billion on research and development.
The scale of Bayer’s operations makes the transaction a prominent example of how private capital firms are increasingly working with large public companies on customized financing structures.
Rather than acquiring the LARC business outright, Apollo and KKR are providing capital through a minority investment in a dedicated entity.
That allows Bayer to monetize part of the value of the business while maintaining strategic control.
The completed €3 billion investment advances Apollo’s push into large-scale corporate capital solutions while adding KKR as another major institutional participant and preserving Bayer’s control of its contraceptives business.
Support: Centerview Partners served as financial advisor to the Apollo funds. Latham & Watkins, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and NautaDutilh served as legal counsel to the Apollo funds.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are proud to serve as a capital partner to Bayer, originating and leading a multi-billion-euro capital solution tailored to their needs. Bayer, a global life sciences leader and iconic German company, represents the types of large, blue-chip companies we serve through our High Grade Capital Solutions business. Apollo has committed to deploying more than $100 billion in Germany over the coming decade, and Bayer exemplifies the kind of strategic, long-term partnership we seek to build with the country’s most important companies.”
Jamshid Ehsani, Partner at Apollo
