Smith & Nephew’s Bohuon Said to Tell Staff He Will Stay
(Updates with other potential Sanofi job candidates in second-to-last paragraph.)
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) — Smith & Nephew Plc Chief Executive Officer Olivier Bohuon said he has no plans to leave the U.K. medical-device maker as Sanofi continues to search for a new leader, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Bohuon also said he is “very happy” at Smith & Nephew, during a long-scheduled town hall meeting with employees yesterday in Baar, Switzerland, said one person, who asked not to be identified discussing private company events.
Sanofi’s search for a CEO is moving forward after Chris Viehbacher was ousted last month. Bohuon is well-placed for the job but no agreement has been reached, several people said. French daily Le Figaro reported two days ago that Sanofi Chairman Serge Weinberg has picked Bohuon and that an agreement would be negotiated in the weeks to come.
Bohuon, 55, is a strong candidate to lead Paris-based Sanofi because he has industry expertise, enjoys a good reputation within the investor community and is French, which would help him win the support of the board, two people said. Still, it may be complicated for Bohuon to leave a company that could be taken over soon, they said. Stryker Corp. is examining a bid for Smith & Nephew as a standstill period that prevents it from making an offer nears its end, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
Other candidates remain in the running for the Sanofi top job, the people said. Recruitment firm Russell Reynolds Associates Inc. is conducting the search, three people said.
Company Response
Charles Reynolds, a spokesman for London-based Smith & Nephew, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on Bohuon’s plans. Jack Cox, a spokesman for Sanofi, declined to comment. Susanne-Jeanette Mathony, a spokeswoman for Russell Reynolds, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Weinberg and the board want to move quickly with the new hire, two people said. The search is “well on its way,” though the board is willing to take its time finding the right person, Weinberg told analysts and reporters on Nov. 20. Sanofi is looking for someone with a very strong background in the pharmaceutical industry and good knowledge of the U.S. market, he said.
Sanofi ended Viehbacher’s six-year tenure on Oct. 29, citing a poor relationship with the board and shortcomings in executing strategy.
Bohuon Background
Bohuon became CEO of Smith & Nephew in April 2011. Under his leadership, Smith & Nephew shares have gained about 60 percent, bolstered by acquisitions such as the $1.7 billion purchase this year of Austin, Texas-based ArthroCare Corp. to solidify its position in sports-related orthopedics.
Before joining Smith & Nephew, he headed French pharmaceutical company Pierre Fabre SA, replacing Jean-Pierre Garnier, a former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline Plc. He had senior roles at Abbott Laboratories between 2003 and 2010, including as president of the pharmaceutical division, based in Chicago.
Bohuon also spent more than 10 years at Glaxo and at a U.S. company that later merged with the U.K. drugmaker. He was marketing director and operations director of Glaxo’s French unit between 1991 and 1995 and then president of SmithKline Beecham Laboratories, which combined with Glaxo Wellcome in 2000. He served as director of Glaxo’s European commercial operations from 2001 to 2003.
A possible hiring of Bohuon is viewed positively by a number of people within Sanofi, while others would prefer that an internal candidate emerge, another person said.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s Christophe Weber; Eric Cornut, Novartis AG’s chief ethics officer; and Olivier Brandicourt, head of Bayer AG’s health-care business, are among other candidates that Sanofi has considered for the job, people familiar have said. AstraZeneca Plc CEO Pascal Soriot also remains a possible candidate, although he has already been approached and said he wasn’t interested, the people have said.
Smith & Nephew has about 100 employees in Baar, located in the Swiss canton of Zug.
To contact the reporter on this story: Albertina Torsoli in Geneva at atorsoli@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net David Risser, Vidya Root
