The company is cutting 12,000 jobs across several services, due to lower performance in stock performance and over-the-counter drug sales, according to The Wall Street Journal. The cuts would amount to 10 percent of its global workforce.

Following its acquisition of Monsanto in June, Bayer also faces thousands of lawsuits from claims against the former company’s herbicide products. But Bayer officials denied that the Monsanto acquisition was linked to the cutbacks.

Bayer Animal Health has headquarters in Shawnee, Kansas. The company said it is “assessing available options” for possible sale of that unit.

“Although this unit offers growth options in an attractive market, Bayer intends to allocate the investment resources necessary to support animal health to Bayer’s core businesses of pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science,” it said in a release.

The Journal also said analysts estimate that Bayer’s selloff of animal health units could earn $8 billion.

“The decision to sell the animal health unit follows weeks of Bayer exploring strategic options for a business it no longer sees as core and is too small to flourish under its ownership,” the Journal wrote.  

—News brief was written by Progressive Cattleman staff