Bayer, which is fighting claims its weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, announced its Chairman Werner Wenning was stepping down because the drug and chemical company was making good progress in settlement talks. Wenning was one of the architects of a $63 billion Monsanto takeover deal.
73-year-old Wenning’s term as chairman of Bayer’s non-executive supervisory board would have expired in 2022. He said he had originally intended to step down last year after reaching the board’s recommended age limit of 72, but was asked to stay on. He said in a statement on Wednesday:
“We have made and continue to make progress in handling the legal issues in the U.S. That’s why now is a good time to hand over to my successor,”
Norbert Winkeljohann, who was head of auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Europe SE until June 2018 and has been a member of Bayer’s supervisory board since 2018, will replace Wenning after the annual shareholders’ meeting on April 28, the company added.
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Last year, Bayer started negotiations with plaintiffs’ lawyers to settle U.S. lawsuits that maintain its Roundup weedkiller, which contains the toxic chemical glyphosate, causes cancer. In October 2019, the number of plaintiffs more than doubled to 42,700 within just three months, and analysts have predicted it may cost the company up to $12 billion to put the claims to rest.
In 2016, Bayer agreed to pay $63 billion, including assumed debt for Roundup maker Monsanto, who is also the world’s largest seeds maker, in a deal backed by Wenning and pushed by the recently appointed Chief Executive Werner Baumann.
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Major shareholders have criticized Bayer for underestimating the risks when it bought Monsanto, and for its handling of the issue, resulting in an unprecedented show of disapproval towards top management at last year’s annual general meeting.
Bayer is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on Thursday. The company has defended a deal that brought together companies controlling more than a quarter of the world market for seeds and pesticides.
