Walgreen Names Jana’s Rosenstein to Board Amid Alliance Deal
Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) — Barry Rosenstein, who leads activist investment firm Jana Partners LLC, took a seat on the board of Walgreen Co. as the biggest U.S. drugstore chain plans to acquire Alliance Boots GmbH.
Jana, which manages about $11 billion, can recommend an additional director to the board of Walgreen, the Deerfield, Illinois-based drugstore chain said today in a statement.
“Barry’s experience and expertise in building shareholder value on behalf of companies will be important as we establish Walgreens Boots Alliance and carry out our next chapter plan for long-term growth and value creation,” Greg Wasson, president and chief executive officer of Walgreen, said in today’s statement.
Walgreen, which already owned 45 percent of Bern, Switzerland-based Boots, said this month that it will buy all of the company, which owns pharmacy and beauty stores in Europe. Walgreen will pay about $5.29 billion in cash plus 144.3 million shares of common stock for the remaining stake, the company said in an Aug. 6 statement. Walgreen will be based in Chicago. The company had previously considered moving its headquarters as a way to lower the rate it pays the U.S. government.
Rosenstein’s Jana is known for pushing companies and corporate management to make changes that will boost shareholder value.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam in Boston at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net Matthew G. Miller, Mary Romano
