Bayer Shares Plunge After US Justice Department Asks Supreme Court to Reject Roundup Appeal
11 May 2022 - 6:45PM
Dow Jones News
By Cecilia Butini
Shares in Bayer AG fell in opening trade on Wednesday after a
U.S. Justice department brief recommended that the Supreme Court
reject a company appeal to review a case linking its Roundup
weedkiller to a type of cancer.
At 0800 GMT, Bayer traded 5.8% lower at EUR58.33.
The opinion comes after the Supreme Court had requested
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar for the administration's view
on whether Bayer's appeal should be heard. The company's appeal
centered around the case of a California resident, Edwin Hardeman,
who said that Roundup had caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and to
whom a jury had awarded $25 million in damages.
Commenting on the Justice department's brief, Bayer said in a
statement that it is convinced that there are good juridical
arguments for the Supreme Court to hear the Hardeman case again and
to correct the verdict.
The company added that regardless of what the Supreme Court ends
up deciding, it continues to be ready to end the litigation around
Roundup through its five-point plan.
Bayer said in July last year that it would set aside additional
$4.5 billion in provision to end litigation around the embattled
weedkiller, which it took on when it acquired Monsanto in 2018.
Jefferies analysts said in a note that this brief decreases the
likelihood of the Supreme Court deciding to hear the case again and
to subsequently rule in Bayer's favor. According to the analysts,
Bayer is likely to have to settle provisions for both remaining
cases and future cases involving Roundup.
Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 11, 2022 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)
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