Shareholders say Bayer executives need more time after the resumption of the general meeting

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Two of Bayer's largest German investors said the drug maker's management should remain at the helm to avoid further upheaval, despite falling stock prices following the takeover of the drug. Monsanto by 63 billion dollars.

CEO Werner Baumann's support follows an unprecedented reprimand at Friday's annual shareholders' meeting, during which a majority of investors expressed disapproval of high-level equities. direction.

"The hasty replacement of the CEO would only increase the risk of a break-up and therefore could not be in the interests of long-term investors such as Union Investment," said Janne Werning, badyst at Union Investment in Germany. a shareholder of the top 20.

"The magnitude of the litigation risks will not be clearer until next year, which is why we believe that it is fair and necessary to grant more time to the direction, "he said in a written statement this weekend.

About 30 billion euros (25.5 billion pounds sterling) have been eliminated from the market value of Bayer since August, when a US jury ruled criminal liability for it because Monsanto had not warned of alleged cancer risks related to its Roundup against weeds. More than 13,000 claimants claim damages.

Bayer shares fell 1.9% on Monday at 07:25 GMT.

Bayer is appealing or considering appealing the verdicts and has drawn attention to the findings of global regulators that the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is safe.

Ingo Speich, a fund manager at Deka Investment, said Friday that the change of direction would only exacerbate the chaos.

"It can not be in anyone's interest to see neglected daily operations, in addition to all the existing chaos," he told the AGM.

Deka and Union were among the top 20 investors who voted "no" at the company's annual general meeting to ratify the management's behavior during the year under review.