Actavis Says Forest Labs' Saunders To Be CEO Of Combined Company

(RTTNews) - Specialty pharmaceutical company Actavis plc (ACT) said Wednesday that Brent Saunders, currently CEO and President of Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX), will become CEO and President of the combined company after Actavis completes its $25 billion acquisition of Forest. Saunders will also become a member of the combined company's board of directors.

While announcing its acquisition of Forest Laboratories in February 2014, Actavis had said that its chairman and CEO Paul Bisaro would lead the combined company.

Actavis, the world's second-largest generic drug maker, is currently in the process of acquiring rival Forest Laboratories, Inc. (FRX) for about $25 billion in cash and stock. The company expects the acquisition to close at mid-year.

Announcing the proposed senior management team that will lead the specialty pharmaceutical company following the acquisition of Forest Laboratories, Actavis said Wednesday that Bisaro will serve in a newly created role of executive chairman of the combined company.

Robert Stewart, President of Actavis Global Operations, will become chief operating officer of the combined company. Saunders will report to Bisaro and the board of directors, while Stewart will report to Saunders.

Bisaro said, "Consistent with the practice we established during the legacy Actavis acquisition in 2012, we are publicly announcing the proposed senior leadership structure prior to the close of the Forest acquisition, in order to ensure that we seamlessly operate as one global company on Day 1. These appointments reflect the increased size and complexity of the combined business, and the exceptional and complementary expertise of the Actavis and Forest management teams."

As executive chairman, Bisaro will lead the company's board of directors, while maintaining his oversight of the strategic management of Actavis.

Bisaro, working closely with Saunders and the Actavis management team, will oversee the development of the company's brand, generic, branded generic and OTC business growth strategies, as well as the identification and execution of mergers and acquisitions, including geographic and business unit diversification strategies and initiatives.

As CEO and President, Saunders will have responsibility for leading Actavis' approximately $15 billion global pharmaceutical business. He will assume responsibility for all commercial and business functions, as well as the combined company's finance, legal, human resource and corporate affairs activities.

In the newly-created position of COO, Stewart will retain responsibility for Global Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Procurement, Engineering and Security and Information Technology. He will also retain responsibility for Global Brands, Generics and Biosimilars Research and Development, which he assumed earlier this year.

Actavis said that Bill Meury, currently executive vice president, sales and marketing for Forest, will assume responsibility as Executive Vice President Commercial, North American Brands at close. David Buchen, currently Actavis' Chief Legal Officer, will assume responsibilities in a newly-created position of Executive Vice President Commercial, North American Generics and International.

Both of these positions will report to Saunders and will support the combined company's more complex generic, brand, branded generic and Over-the-Counter or OTC global commercial operations.

Meanwhile, Sigurdur Olafsson, President of Actavis Pharma, has elected to leave the company effective at the close of the transaction. However, he will continue to work closely with his commercial management team during the transition period to ensure continued achievement of the company's commercial objectives and support Buchen's transition.

Actavis also announced the senior management team for its Global Shared Services Functions, which will report to Saunders. Todd Joyce will retain his Actavis position as chief financial officer for the combined company. Frank Perier, CFO of Forest, will provide transitional support during the integration process following the close.

Bob Bailey, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Forest, will assume the position of Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Actavis, previously held by Buchen. He will report to Saunders.

Karen Ling, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Forest, will become Chief Human Resources Officer for the combined company at close. Ling succeeds Patrick Eagan, Actavis Chief Human Resources Officer, who will support the transition and integration through the end of 2014.

David Solomon, Senior Advisor to the CEO of Forest, will provide transitional support following the close. Charlie Mayr, Chief Communications Officer for Actavis, will retain responsibility for Communications, Investor Relations, Public Relations, Government Affairs and Strategic Alignment.

Sigurd Kirk, Senior Vice President, Actavis Corporate Business Development, will retain responsibility for corporate business development. Ling, Mayr and Kirk will report to Saunders.

ACT is trading at $206.63, down $0.34 or 0.16 percent on a volume of 164,960 shares.