The new unit, which will take effect on October 1, will comprise the company’s synthetic rubber interests including polybutadiene, butyl, nitrile and EPDM as well as the remaining plastics business, notably the polyamide activities. It will sit alongside Advanced Intermediates and Performance Chemicals in a new three segment structure for the Bayer spin-off company.

Revealing the plans at a media day in London today, ceo Dr Axel Heitmann was in confident mood, highlighting the company’s success in meeting targets ahead of schedule and a ?1bn investment plan for the period to 2009.

A combination of sell-offs, cost-saving measures and a price-before-volume strategy has seen a dramatic turnaround in the business, widely thought to have included many of Bayer’s unwanted businesses at its 2004 formation.

Heitmann said: “Back in 2004, 70% of our businesses were non-performing. Today, three-quarters of our businesses are reporting margins above 10%. And our proportion of low margin businesses is insignificant. By the end of 2007 we expect to have 75% of our sales in margin category of plus 10%.”

Following the failure of his ambitious plan to buy Degussa, the Lanxess ceo was keeping investors and the press guessing about possible future acquisition plans. “At the moment there are no potential large scale acquisition opportunities that fit our strict value creating criteria,” he said, noting that only small- to mid-candidates were likely.

But Lanxess has an ambitious investment programme headed by the likelihood of a ?400m butyl rubber plant in Asia as well as expansion of its Wuxi polyamide compounding plant in China under its Lanxess goes Asia programme, Heitmann noted.