BERLIN, July 2 : Bayer said on Thursday it was consolidating its U.S. Roundup business in a new unit called Ruveon, less than a week after a major legal victory that blocked thousands of state-court lawsuits related to the weedkiller.The new division will remain a Bayer business and oversee all aspects of U.S. sales of Roundup, whose key ingredient is known as glyphosate, including pricing, production and logistics, the German drugmaking and crop science company said.Bayer bought Roundup as part of its $63 billion purchase of agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018, which became a major liability due to lawsuits accusing Bayer of failing to warn users that Roundup's active ingredient causes cancer.Bayer, the only U.S. maker of glyphosate, has said that decades of studies have shown the key Roundup ingredient is safe and does not cause cancer.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Bayer in its bid to limit the legal fallout in a case that is part of years-long litigation over the product."Ruveon is expected to be a more nimble and well-positioned player within its commodity-based market, which requires a specialized approach to address competitive dynamics," Bayer said in a statement.Bayer added that the consolidation of the business was part of its Crop Science division's five-year plan to drive growth, resilience and profitability.Deutsche Bank analysts said after last week's ruling that Bayer "should effectively cap the glyphosate exposure within existing provisions", raising its rating to "buy" from "hold".
