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Investing.com — Bayer (OTC:BAYRY) stock slumped to the bottom of the German DAX index by mid-morning in Europe, after an explosion at a chemicals plant in its home town of Leverkusen in western Germany.
By 4:55 AM ET (0855 GMT), Bayer shares in Frankfurt were down 2.3%, the worst performer in the DAX and the third-worst performer in the Euro Stoxx 50 index.
Bayer, once one of the most valuable companies in Europe, has fallen by nearly two-third since announcing the acquisition of U.S. crop sciences company Monsanto (NYSE:MON), which left it exposed to billions of dollars in compensation claims from those who had suffered side-effects from its Roundup weed-killer.
The German broadcaster ZDF cited the local fire service as saying that the incident may have been caused by gas explosion at the plant’s waste disposal site. There were no details of casualties.
