Bayer Takes the Hit After Monsanto Loses Roundup Cancer Trial

First jury verdict was test for thousands of pending claims
Monsanto hit with $289 million in damages on weed killer

Bloomberg’s Naomi Kresge reports on a jury verdict impacting Bayer’s shares.Source: Bloomberg)

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Joel Rosenblatt, Robert Burnson, and Naomi Kresge

August 13, 2018 at 7:09 AM UTC

Updated on

August 13, 2018 at 4:05 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Two months after clinching its $66 billion purchase of Monsanto Co., Bayer AG faces a protracted legal battle over the U.S. company’s Roundup weed killer -- a prospect that wiped more than $11 billion off the German conglomerate’s market value.

Bayer shares plunged the most in almost seven years after Monsanto was socked with $289 million in damages in the first trial over claims that the herbicide causes cancer. Now a deal Bayer pursued to keep pace with DowDuPont Inc. and China National Chemical Corp. is turning into a potentially expensive quagmire.