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Bloomberg
Bayer AG’s Werner Baumann has a return engagement with shareholders after an unprecedented rebuke last year. Though an avalanche of Roundup litigation has grown, the chief executive officer appears to be on firmer footing this time around.
While Baumann has failed to settle claims with more than 50,000 US plaintiffs who say the weedkiller caused cancer, he has drawn some shareholders’ praise for bringing in fresh legal experts and prioritizing settlement talks. Once again, those cases will be the focus of the German company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday.
Roundup claims were swelling a year ago when more than half of shareholders issued a vote of no confidence in Bayer management’s actions. It’s unclear whether Baumann would be able to survive a similar setback, though some investors have tempered their critique.
“Bayer made a course correction since last year’s bad shareholder vote, and in our opinion it’s in the right direction,†said Janne Werning, head of environment, social and governance at Union Investment, a major shareholder.
Baumann took on the headache with Bayer’s $63 billion takeover of Monsanto Co. Since then, as litigation mushroomed, the shares have fallen some 35%, even though the company has repeatedly said Roundup is safe.