Bayer, still dealing with the seemingly endless flow of lawsuits over glyphosate, is considering declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its Monsanto unit, which it acquired in 2018.
The company still has tens of thousands of glyphosate lawsuits pending. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that it has engaged legal and consulting firms to explore options, including a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in case settlement talks fail. Meanwhile, Bayer is also continuing to lobby for legal protections, a strategy that hasn’t worked out so far, and is seeking intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court regarding glyphosate litigation.
Meanwhile, Bayer is implementing cost-cutting measures, including job reductions. The company announced plans to cut hundreds of jobs as part of a restructuring of its crop science division in Germany. This includes discontinuing production of certain crop protection product ingredients at its Dormagen site, resulting in about 200 job losses from the approximately 1,200 staff currently employed there. Additionally, Bayer will scale back operations at its Frankfurt site, where herbicide active ingredients are developed.
Bayer shares were down more than 5% this week. They are down 18% over the past year, and 59% over the past five years.
