Norway’s sovereign fund will vote to support Bayer management

The so-called ‘Chempark’, the primary plant and headquarters of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG is pictured alongside the river Rhine in Leverkusen, Germany, April 27, 2020. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

OSLO, April 24 (Reuters) – Norway’s $1.3 trillion wealth fund will vote subsequent week to help high administration at German drug and farm merchandise maker Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE), however will vote towards the remuneration package deal of CEO Werner Baumann, it mentioned on Sunday.

Shareholders will vote on April 29 at Bayer’s annual normal assembly on whether or not or to not ratify the manager board’s enterprise conduct throughout 2021, a normal process at German AGMs.

The Norwegian fund owned 2.27% of Bayer’s shares on the finish of 2021, valued at $1.19 billion, making it the corporate’s fifth largest shareholder in line with Refinitiv information.

“The board is liable for attracting the correct CEO and setting acceptable remuneration,” Norges Financial institution Funding Administration (NBIM), which operates the fund, mentioned in a press release.

It cited the necessity for a “substantial proportion of annual remuneration” to be offered as shares locked in for 5 to 10 years, transparency to keep away from “unacceptable outcomes” and that every one advantages ought to have a transparent enterprise rationale.

Whereas the AGM vote is basically symbolic, with no bearing on administration’s legal responsibility or tenure, it’s however seen as a key gauge of investor sentiment.

Baumann, whose contract as CEO runs till 2024, is underneath stress to spice up return on funding which has been lagging that of its rivals following the $63 billion takeover of agri enterprise Monsanto in 2018. learn extra

Bayer’s shares tumbled within the months that adopted the acquisition when jurors discovered Monsanto liable in a number of U.S. lawsuits for not warning of alleged most cancers dangers linked to its weedkiller Roundup.

The Norwegian fund joined a majority of shareholders on the 2019 AGM in rebuking Bayer’s administration, however did, nevertheless, give its backing to Baumann and his staff for the next two years.

Reporting by Terje Solsvik, modifying by Gwladys Fouche and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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