Bayer wants to pay 8 billion to settle claims

Crop protection giant Bayer is willing to pay $8 billion to settle RoundUp lawsuits. Currently, more than 18.000 cases have been filed against the chemical giant in the United States. The prosecutors allege that they developed cancer through the use of RoundUp.

Chemicals giant Bayer's proposal has not been immediately accepted, however, as lawyers for the various prosecutors say they want at least $10 billion before they are willing to drop the cases. According to sources from Bloomberg the 2 parties are expressly in discussion with each other in order to reach an agreement for all current and future matters. Tino Andresen, Bayer's spokesman, does not want to confirm this, the press service reported.

With the rumor mill running at full speed, the shares from Bayer on Friday morning 9 August in Frankfurt up 11% (to €68,29 at 10 am). However, compared to 14 months ago (after the acquisition of Monsanto), these are still 33% lower.

Postpone lawsuits
According to Bloomberg, the talks have progressed so far that both sides have asked for the lawsuits in St. Louis to be postponed. This excludes a statement that Werner Baumann, the company's CEO, made in late July: "We are considering making a financially reasonable settlement." Closing this deal closes the period of loss. In recent months, the chemical giant has lost 3 lawsuits in a row, with an average payout of $50 million per plaintiff.

There is a good chance that the lawsuits in August and September will actually be postponed, because American judges usually prefer mutual solutions. Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, told Bloomberg. "If they can settle on less than $10 billion, that's a very good deal for Bayer."

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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