They didnt take over the club.

The clubs history begins in February 1903 when 170 workers of Bayer signed a letter to the head of the company asking to found a company athletics team. In July 1904 they officially created Turn- und Spielverein 1904 der Farbenfabrik vormals Friedrich Bayer Co. Leverkusen.

Bayer owned the club from the very beginning and half a century before people even thought you could make money off of professional football. There is nothing plastic about that, just a traditional workers team with deep bonds to its "mother" Bayer. The first time they wore the iconic Bayer Cross on their jerseys was in 1936.