Bayer AG is weighing whether to use a controversial legal maneuver known as the Texas Two-Step bankruptcy to try to resolve tens of thousands of US lawsuits claiming its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, according to people familiar with its thinking.

Faced with a recent string of costly jury verdicts over the herbicide, Bayer executives are consulting with law firms and advisers about how to prompt a bankruptcy judge to halt further trials scheduled for this year. The object is to wrangle a settlement of more than 50,000 cases, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential matter.

The bankruptcy maneuver gets its name from the use of a Texas state law that lets companies split their assets a

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