Bayer close to glyphosate settlement worth $8-10 billion: German business daily

Bayer is close to agreeing a settlement worth $8-10 billion over claims its glyphosate-based Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, German business daily Handelsblatt reported.

The company’s supervisory board was due to discuss and vote on the settlement, which includes a $2 billion buffer for future claims, in the coming days, paper cited company and negotiating partner sources as saying.

A spokesman for Bayer declined to comment on the report. Perry Weitz of Weitz & Luxenberg, one of the leading plaintiffs’ firms involved in the Roundup litigation, also would not comment.

The drugs and pesticides group, which said in May that talks were progressing, is keen to draw a line under the legal dispute, which it inherited via its $63 billion takeover of Monsanto in 2018.

In April, Bayer’s management regained shareholder support for its handling of the litigation process.

Bayer said in April it has been served with cases in court from 52,500 US plaintiffs who blame Roundup and other glyphosate-based weedkillers for their cancer, up from 48,600 in February.