Bayer Proposes Up to $7.25B U.S. Class Settlement to Resolve Most Roundup Claims
Bayer put forward a nationwide settlement framework that would allocate up to $7.25 billion to resolve current and prospective U.S. claims tied to the herbicide Roundup. The proposal creates a multi-decade claims mechanism with capped annual funding and a filing window for qualifying plaintiffs extending as long as 21 years, a structure intended to limit future suit volatility.
The program targets roughly 65,000 pending cases across state and federal dockets and comes alongside confidential, additional settlements with select law firms. Bayer signaled the agreement aims to settle the bulk of litigation risk, while stressing that a separate U.S. Supreme Court appeal—set for late April oral argument—remains strategically important and could eliminate some large jury awards on appeal.
Financially, Bayer now expects its litigation provisioning to rise from about €7.8 billion to €11.8 billion, and it forecasts roughly €5 billion in litigation-related cash outflows in 2026, a change that prompted the company to delay its 2025 results and 2026 guidance publication to early March. Investors responded quickly: shares climbed intraday, gaining as much as 7.7% and trading around a +7.2% rise at the time cited, reflecting reduced litigation uncertainty.
Bayer stresses scientific studies that support glyphosate safety but acknowledges mixed trial outcomes, including large jury awards that have persisted on appeal. The new proposal must secure court approval and offers an opt‑in mechanism for previously exposed individuals who can document a qualifying non‑Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis to receive payments under the capped program.
Operationally, the settlement trades immediate clarity for extended cash commitments and preserves the company’s reliance on the Supreme Court outcome to potentially limit future payouts and extinguish certain appeal-level verdicts. For stakeholders, the deal narrows future legal tail risk but raises near-term free cash flow pressure and increases booked litigation liabilities materially.
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