Walgreens' senior suite goes global
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Tuesday announced several new senior management roles, including an expanded role for CFO Wade Miquelon and the appointment of current SVP and chief strategy officer Robert Zimmerman as the lead executive responsible for the Walgreens-Alliance Boots' "synergy team." Succeeding Zimmerman as chief strategy officer will be Brad Fluegel.
“These new roles will allow us to move forward aggressively, working closely together with Alliance Boots, to implement our strategic partnership and realize the extensive synergies from the acquisition, as well as accelerate our core growth strategies to achieve our purpose to help people get, stay and live well,” Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson said. “The changes also reflect Walgreens high level of confidence in our senior management team, with a mix of internally and externally developed talent, to execute the strategic partnership with Alliance Boots and major initiatives across the company efficiently and effectively.”
With the announcement, Miquelon will assume an expanded and global leadership role at Walgreens as EVP/CFO and leading a newly named value creation services and international division in the role of international president. As he continues to lead Walgreens finance functions as CFO, Miquelon now will serve as Wasson’s senior leader in collaborating with Alliance Boots management team to execute the new global strategic partnership.
Zimmerman now will lead a new global mergers and acquisitions “synergy team” as SVP international and international chief administration officer. In his new role as Walgreens key project leader on the Alliance Boots partnership, Zimmerman will also serve on the Alliance Boots board of directors. “As our chief strategy officer for several years, Bob has been critical in helping us to evolve our core growth strategies, which is why I’ve asked him to take on this role heavily focused on ensuring we execute with excellence on this transformative and critical transaction,” Wasson said.
Joining the company as SVP and chief strategy officer is Fluegel, who was executive in residence at Health Evolution Partners prior to joining Walgreens, and previously served as EVP and chief strategy and external affairs officer of Wellpoint, one of the nation’s largest health benefits company, where he was responsible for long-term strategic planning, government affairs, corporate communications, including public relations, corporate development, international expansion, innovation and new business ventures. In addition to serving as Walgreens chief strategy officer, Fluegel also will lead the company’s project management office and corporate consulting team, as well as work together with Zimmerman on the company’s venture capital efforts.
As part of the Alliance Boots announcement in June, Walgreens stated that it expects combined synergies across both companies of between $100 million and $150 million in the first year and $1 billion by the end of 2016. To carry out a focused effort to capture those synergies, the company is setting up six new “global synergy teams” in Miquelon’s new organization that will work closely with Alliance Boots.
In addition to Zimmerman’s global mergers and acquisitions team, the additional global synergy teams will oversee global value creation, global projects, new markets and international expansion, and procurement and pharmaceutical development.