In the coming year, Bayer AG will have to face another multi-billion dollar lawsuit in connection with the takeover of Monsanto in 2016.

As the law firm Tilp announced on Wednesday, the Cologne Regional Court has granted the application to initiate a model investor procedure (KapMuG) before the Cologne Higher Regional Court.

The application should be published in the Federal Gazette as soon as possible, according to the court.

Jonas Jansen

Business correspondent in Düsseldorf.

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Marcus Jung

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Findings for pending individual lawsuits before German courts could then be clarified in the model lawsuit.

Investors are deceived by Bayer about the economic risks of the Monsanto takeover, which brought the US consumer lawsuits over the active ingredient glyphosate.

“In the period between the announcement of the first glyphosate-related judgment in the case of Dewayne Johnson on August 10, 2018 and the second judgment in the case of Edwin Hardeman on March 28, 2019, Bayer shares fell from over 93 euros to around 56 euros and thus by almost 40 percent, "says Tilp lawyer Axel Wegner.

Probably up to 1.5 billion euros in claims

According to the law firm, investors who acquired their shares between September 14, 2016 and March 19, 2019 can assert claims against Bayer until the end of 2021, after which the statute of limitations threatens.

According to an earlier statement by her late name partner Andreas Tilp, the claims against Bayer are said to amount to up to 1.5 billion euros.

The US law firm Hausfeld is also suing 37 million euros for investors in Cologne.

"We consider the lawsuits due to allegedly incorrect capital market communication in connection with the Monsanto acquisition to be unfounded," said a Bayer spokesman on request.

The company complied with the law and complied with its publication obligations.

After the group was accused, among others, by the shareholder and former head of the DWS fund company, Christian Strenger, that the Board of Management had not adequately examined the takeover of Monsanto, Bayer commissioned a voluntary, independent special audit in February 2020. The auditor came to the conclusion that Bayer's internal guidelines and requirements for due diligence were appropriate.

The DAX group therefore argues that the board of directors acted in a dutiful manner with the acquisition.

“We will defend ourselves accordingly in the proceedings,” Bayer said.

The decision of the Cologne Regional Court, to which the law firm Tilp refers, has not yet been served on Bayer.

On Monday, Bayer's share price was a good 1 percent in the red during the day.

With a market capitalization of just under 45 billion euros, the company is worth significantly less on the stock exchange than it paid for Monsanto.