Alliance Boots boss quits

Alliance Boots chief executive Richard Baker quit the healthcare giant today as the company’s new owners announced a management overhaul.

Mr Baker chose to depart following the £11.1bn (€16.4bn) sale to private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the firm’s own deputy chairman, Stefano Pessina.

It is thought there are no plans to replace Mr Baker as Mr Pessina is set to take on a new role as executive chairman of the newly-private company.

Mr Baker, who joined the company in 2003 from UK supermarket chain Asda, made a reported £6.5m (€9.6m) through the sale of the business and is in line for a bumper pay package on leaving the group.

Mr Baker held talks with Mr Pessina over potentially staying on as chief executive before deciding to quit the group, which has become the first FTSE 100 company to fall into private equity hands.

He has been at the helm through a transitional time for the company, following the £7bn (€10.3bn) merger between Boots and Alliance UniChem – completed in July last year – and the subsequent approach from Mr Pessina and KKR in March.

Mr Pessina said: “We are grateful to Richard Baker for all he has done in leading the Alliance Boots group through its merger.”

Also leaving is Boots The Chemist managing director Scott Wheway, to be replaced by healthcare director Alex Gourlay.

As executive chairman, Mr Pessina will be responsible for the company’s strategy and his new board includes KKR partner Dominic Murphy as one of three representatives of the private equity firm.

The new owners plan to increase investment in existing stores and expand the group’s store portfolio.

The combined company already boasts about 2,600 pharmacies in the UK and a wholesale network of about 380 depots, but Mr Pessina and KKR have said growth plans include potential acquisitions in Europe and emerging markets such as Latin America and Asia.

Alliance Boots employs about 100,000 people worldwide.