From Sept. 1, the company formerly known as Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) will trade under the name Covestro. The new name will precede an initial public offering planned for the German group’s polymers arm by mid-2016 as the German group prepares to reinvent itself as a pure life science player.

Explaining the choice of Covestro, Patrick Thomas, CEO of the sub-group still part of Bayer, said CO stands for collaboration with suppliers and customers, VEST for the company’s investment in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and STRO for strong, reflecting its strengths in innovation, in the market and in its workforce.

A new logo designed in London shows the company name in white against a black background and encircled by a ring of color. Thomas said the design expresses the engineering plastics producer’s “colorful identity and positive vision. “In a grey corporate world, we bring colour to that world,” the CEO said in a video statement.

Covestro will be Europe’s fourth largest chemical company in terms of sales behind BASF, LyondellBasell and Evonik. (dw)