Bayer share price surges amid report it could settle Roundup weedkiller lawsuits for $8bn
Bayer’s share price rocketed by as much as 11 per cent today as a report emerged that the German giant had proposed to pay $8bn (£6.59bn) to settle 18,000 lawsuits relating to its Roundup weedkiller.
Read more: Judge reduces Bayer weedkiller damages
Bayer later trimmed gains back to 5.8 per cent on Germany’s Dax stock exchange to leave shares at €66.6 after Bloomberg’s article.
The pharma giant has seen shares fall by more than a third since a court decided last August that subsidiary Monsanto should have warned people about Roundup’s alleged cancer risks.
Bayer’s legal team has held talks in New York with lawyers representing claimants, with Bayer having offered to pay between $6bn and $8bn to settle claims, Bloomberg reported.
Claimants are hoping to over $10bn.
The parties are set to ask for a postponement of the next Roundup trial, due to start this month, the report added.
A US court ruling earlier this month saw a judge reduce the sum Bayer should pay out to one Roundup claimant from $80.3m to $25.3m.
Read more: Bayer told to pay $2bn over Roundup weedkiller lawsuit
Judge Vince Chhabria ruled the original sum was “constitutionally impermissible” as it was almost 15 times the compensatory damages award.