Dive Brief:
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Walgreen CEO Greg Wasson Wednesday said he will leave after the company’s acquisition of Alliance Boots, reversing plans for him to stay on to lead the merged company.
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Alliance Boots executive chairman will be interim CEO of the combined company post merger, and Walgreen chairman Jim Skinner, who had been CEO of McDonald’s, will become executive chairman. Shareholders vote on the merger Dec. 29.
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Wasson has been in the hot seat recently. His idea of moving Walgreen headquarters oversees post-merger to save on taxes, a so-called tax inversion, was met with controversy, and the company backed away from the idea in August soon after floating it. Later this year he was sued by former CFO Wade Miquelon, who said his former employer defamed him in the press when it blamed him for a $1 billion forecasting error.
Dive Insight:
Greg Wasson’s departure is a sign of the influence of Alliance Boots chairman Stefano Pessina, reports the Chicago Tribune, which quotes Morningstar senior analyst Vishnu Lekraj as saying, “Pessina is pretty much the leader of the company for the most part” and activist investor Michael Levin saying, "You have to think that the guy from Boots (Pessina) doesn't trust Wasson to execute on the plan properly."
The Tribune also reports that Wasson’s departure could open a way for the tax inversion to be put back on the table.
