Bayer has announced a major restructure of its operations in 2019 which will see the loss of 12,000 of its 118,200 positions following a number of lawsuits in the wake of its $63 billion buyout of agricultural biotech firm Monsanto.

The move "aims to strengthen its core life science businesses through a series of portfolio, efficiency and structural measures designed to enhance productivity and innovation while significantly improving competitiveness," the company said.

The company’s Supervisory Board was said to have unanimously expressed support for the move.

On top of the 12,000 job losses, most of which will occur in Germany, the company noted that it would be withdrawing from the Animal Health business. It will also be taking a number of measures to bring its Consumer Healthcare division up to speed with market growth and improve profitability, including a potential exit from the its sun and foot care product lines.

Additionally, the company said that, following the successful carve-out of Coverstro, it believes that its 60% stake in Currenta is no longer justified.

"We have made very good progress with Bayer’s strategic development in recent years. As we now proceed with these measures, we are laying the foundation to sustainably enhance Bayer’s performance and profitability," said Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer. "With these measures, we are positioning Bayer optimally for the future as a life science company.

"These changes are necessary and lay the foundation for Bayer to enhance its performance and agility," he continued. "With these measures, we aim to take full advantage of the growth potential for our businesses. We are aware of the gravity of these decisions for our employees. As in the past, we will implement the planned measures in a fair and responsible way."

Bayer currently faces around 9,000 lawsuits, one of which it lost this year when a California jury ruled that its weedkiller product Roundup may have been the cause of a groundskeeper’s cancer. Over the course of the past year, the company’s stock has fallen around 40%.

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