Investors pressure Bayer to accelerate change of its CEO

One of the 10 main shareholders of Bayern He asked the group’s supervisory board on Tuesday to quickly replace Chief Executive Werner Baumann, adding to investor pressure to restore confidence and revive the drugmaker’s weakening share price.

Despite recent improvements in the German company’s agricultural business and prospects for drug development, Bayer’s shares have been weighed down by litigation related to a product it acquired through its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto. Shareholders they have also cited a lack of market confidence in their senior management.

“When it comes to CEO succession we say: the sooner the betterhe told Reuters. markus mannsa portfolio manager at Union Investment, one of Bayer’s 10 largest shareholders.

The petition comes just days after another major German portfolio manager said Supervisory Board Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann must speed up the search for a successor to baumannwho has led the company for nearly seven years.

ingo speechresponsible for sustainability and corporate governance of Deka -one of the 20 largest shareholders of Bayern-, was quoted in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper on Saturday as saying that Baumann had lost credibility in the market and was therefore no longer able to initiate strategic changes.

“Bayer’s shares are experiencing a crisis of confidence for which the board of directors is responsible”, declared speak to Reuters on Tuesday.

“Bayer has to take investor demands more seriously in the future. Currently, Bayer shares react more strongly to investor news than to operating results. That is a clear sign that something is wrong.”, he added speak.

A spokesman said that Bayern is always open to a constructive dialogue with shareholders and declined to comment further.

Bayer, a German industry icon with almost 160 years of history, has lost more than 40% of its market value since the Monsanto deal, which was followed by a series of lawsuits over allegations that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide causes cancer.

Source: Reuters