Bayer’s non-executive board reaffirmed its support for top management’s decision to acquire Monsanto last year, after losing high-profile lawsuits to U.S. plaintiffs who claimed Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller caused their cancer.
In documents posted on the company’s website on Monday, the non-executive supervisory board said an expert opinion it commissioned from lawfirm Linklaters found that Bayer’s management had complied with their duties when acquiring Monsanto for $63 billion last year.
“The Supervisory Board extensively discussed this expert opinion and based on this also comes to the conclusion that the Board of Management acted in compliance with its duties,” it said.
Bayer shares have lost more than 35 percent of their value, equivalent to about 33 billion euros in market capitalization, since August, when a U.S. jury found Bayer liable because its Monsanto unit did not warn of Roundup’s alleged cancer risks. It suffered a similar courtroom defeat last month.
Although the German company is appealing the verdicts, more than 10,000 similar cases are pending in state and federal courts, with analysts predicting the company will have to pay out billions of dollars in settlements.