FRANKFURT Reuters -- Bayer investor Deka has called for CEO Werner Baumann to be replaced ahead of his scheduled departure, adding to mounting pressure on the German drugmaker.
Bayer needs a new strategic positioning that can't be achieved under Werner Baumann, Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka, told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung FAS in remarks published on Saturday.
The mutual funds firm is one of the 20 largest shareholders of Bayer.
There is a window for Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann to act before the annual general meeting at the end of April. Speich said that he has to take advantage of that opportunity because the pressure on him will increase as well.
He said a successor would have to come from outside the company.
A Bayer spokeswoman said that we are always open to dialogue with our stakeholders, and they don't want to comment on the interview.
Bayer shares have been weighed down by litigation over glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup and environmental pollution related to chemicals known as PCBs despite recent improvements in the company's agriculture business and drug development prospects.
The legal claims are legacy issues from Monsanto's takeover of Monsanto in 2018.
Baumann, who helped set up the troubled Monsanto deal, was given a new contract in 2020 that runs until 2024 and said he would leave the company when that term ends.
A week ago, mutual funds group Union Investment criticised Bayer's chair for a lack of engagement, such as exploring a spin-off of the company's consumer health division.
Bayer is facing demands from activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners to disband the company, including selling its consumer health unit and later a separation of its pharmaceutical and agricultural businesses.
Another activist investment fund, the hedge fund veteran Jeffrey Ubben's Inclusive Capital Partners, said this month it had also acquired a stake in Bayer.