Bayer’s market capitalisation has nearly halved since it bought Monsanto, a troubled agrochemicals giant
do with a few Aspirin these days. On July 16th a judge in California rejected a request by the German chemicals giant for a retrial of a case in which jurors awarded the plaintiff $80m after concluding that Roundup, Bayer’s bestselling herbicide, caused his cancer. The judge’s decision to reduce damages to $25m offered only marginal analgesic relief. The verdict could open the floodgates to 13,400 other plaintiffs around the world who claim to have been harmed by Roundup.
The glyphosate lawsuits—and the political backlash—stem from a finding by a division of the World Health Organisation, which said in 2015 that the chemical was “probably carcinogenic”. The study, controversial among scientists, has dogged Bayer ever since it bought Monsanto, Roundup’s American inventor, in 2018. Bayer’s market capitalisation has nearly halved since the takeover, to €55.5bn , a little less than the $63bn it paid for the American agrochemicals giant.
Losing Roundup altogether would similarly hurt but not kill the German firm. The weedkiller accounts for 12-15% of sales at Bayer’s crop-business and perhaps €1bn, or around a quarter, of Bayer’s operating profit. Despite talk of prohibitions around the world, many farmers fear that losing Roundup will reduce their yields—and have made their concerns known to their political representatives. The Austrian ban must still be approved by the upper house of parliament.
If, that is, Bayer survives that long. Some investors, including Elliott, a feisty American hedge fund, have called for the company to excise the toxic agribusiness from a healthy drugmaker . To reassure investors the company’s management is cutting 12,000 jobs and has considered selling its animal-health, sun-cream and foot-care businesses. But it has resisted a full split, having fought hard to combine the two firms.
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