Bayer's Werner Wenning has yet to find a partner for the company's ailing drug division.

FORBES: Bayer Faces Reality

Word in the market is that Wenning would still like to keep a meaningful stake in any partnership.

FORBES: Bayer backs down

"Wenning seems ready to sell the pharmaceutical business to the highest bidder, but any deal would still have to pass the supervisory board, " says Shrager.

FORBES: Bayer backs down

With the six months he has left in the top job, can he stave off the breakup long enough for the deed to be done by his likely successor, Werner Wenning, now the chief financial officer?

FORBES: Beyond the bad at Bayer

Then in mid-November, Werner Wenning, the CEO, said that the company would accept a minority role in any future marriage of its pharmaceutical business, increasing the chances that someone will make a serious offer for the inventor of aspirin and for its extensive European sales network.

FORBES: Bayer backs down