Like his predecessor, Lutz will be a member of the Board of Management of Bayer MaterialScience and that subgroup's Executive Committee. He will be responsible for all finance-related matters of MaterialScience, which it is planned to float on the stock market as a separate company in 12 to 18 months' time. His responsibilities will also include administration and services along with the Europe, Africa and Middle East regions (EMEA / EEMEA).

Werner Baumann, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayer MaterialScience, thanked Dr. Axel Steiger-Bagel warmly for his more than seven years of dedicated service on the Executive Committee of Bayer MaterialScience. "He deserves much of the credit for the company's good and efficient development over recent years," said Baumann. "At the same time I am pleased at the appointment of such an acknowledged financial expert as Frank Lutz. He will be able to apply his wide-ranging expertise to MaterialScience's preparations for its stock market flotation."

Lutz studied economics and business administration at the university of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and began his career in 1995 at Goldman Sachs. After a period working for Deutsche Bank, he was appointed Senior Vice President for Finance at MAN. Three years later he became Chief Financial Officer of MAN SE, Munich, Germany. On May 1, 2013, Lutz was appointed to the Coordination Council of the Aldi Süd group of companies, where as CFO he bore responsibility for the retailer's finances.

Axel Steiger-Bagel joined Bayer AG's legal department in 1999, having served for two years in Germany and the United States with a well-known law firm. At the beginning of 2002, Steiger-Bagel transferred to the Corporate Center to work as an assistant to the Board of Management. Then in 2006 he was appointed Managing Director, Senior Bayer Representative and Bayer HealthCare Senior Country Representative in Turkey. Since March 2007, Steiger-Bagel has been a member of the Board of Management of Bayer MaterialScience AG with responsibility for administration and services.