Heading into 2019, Bayer CEO Werner Baumann was facing a crisis of trust due to the legal crisis around Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. To right the ship, the company made a series of selloffs as outlined in a restructuring unveiled in late 2018.
As the agriculture industry consolidated, Bayer wanted to bulk up, too. And Monsanto, with its genetically modified crop seeds and pesticides businesses, plus a strong presence in the U.S., looked like the perfect target for the German company.
More than half of Bayer shareholders gave a thumbs down to executives and their actions in 2018, the lowest approval rating for a German company since World War II.
