Berlin - Ratiopharm, one of Germany's best-known drug companies, was put up for sale Wednesday, two days after its struggling owner committed suicide by throwing himself under a train.

Adolf Merckle, 74, a billionaire who was formerly Germany's fifth- richest man, killed himself Monday after months of pleading with banks to throw him a lifeline so that he could remain the owner of Ratiopharm and building supplies giant Heidelberg Cement.

A former lawyer whose business investments brought him giddying riches, Merckle was caught out when he bet that Volkswagen stock would slip in value in the recession. But it soared instead.

He died Monday evening on a railway track close to his home near the southern German city of Ulm. His family said the defeat had left him a broken man. His net worth was once estimated at 6.9 billion euros (9.2 billion dollars).

A spokesman for VEM, Merckle's investment vehicle, confirmed VEM would sell Ratiopharm, a thriving company which makes generic drugs. Its products are found in practically every German home.

About 30 banks which are owed money by VEM agreed to a bridging loan to end a liquidity crunch at VEM. News reports said earlier that VEM needed 400 million euros. Another of VEM's key holdings is in Phoenix, Europe's biggest drug wholesaler.

The VEM spokesman said the banks had insisted that Ludwig Merckle, son of Adolf Merckle, step down as joint chief executive of VEM. The other chief executive is Susanne Friess.

The VEM spokesman said Adolf Merckle, the father, had signed all the essential papers on the bail-out before his suicide.

VEW's debts were attributed in part to a need to raise capital for Heidelberg Cement. VEW deposited shares as guarantees for loans it took, but the value of the shares plummeted as a result of the global financial crisis.

VEM-owned companies employ 100,000 workers and have an annual turnover of 30 billion euros (42 billion dollars).

Residents of Blaubeuren, the town of 12,000 where Merckle lived, voiced shock at the suicide, saying Merckle had never been snobbish.

Mayor Joerg Seibold said, "He was part of the community, an ordinary guy who shopped at the market and went for walks in the woods." (dpa)