Walgreens CFO exits ahead of tax inversion news
Walgreens announced Monday that the company is replacing Chief Financial Officer Wade Miquelon, a move that comes just as the Deerfield, Ill., drugstore chain plans to announce a decision on whether they will nominally move its headquarters overseas to cut its U.S. tax bill.
Walgreens is anticipated to soon announce — perhaps as early as this week — that it’s completing a $16 billion acquisition of the European drugstore chain Alliance Boots.
With the deal, Walgreens will have an opportunity to complete a tax inversion, which would allow it to reduce its tax bill by a projected $4 billion over the next five years by listing the company’s headquarters in Switzerland, where Alliance Boots is headquartered. The company said in June that it would announce its decision on whether it will move its headquarter overseas by early August.
While the company’s board of directors faces pressure from some shareholders to make the move, Walgreens also has faced mounting protests from Democratic lawmakers and activists to remain headquartered in the United States.
Miquelon, who will be replaced by Kraft Foods Group executive Timothy McLevish, is the second top Walgreens executive to announce he’s leaving the company in the lead-up to the tax inversion decision. Kermit Crawford, Walgreens president of pharmacy, health and wellness, announced last month that he would retire after spending 31 years with the company
Miquelon joined Walgreens in June 2008 as senior vice president and chief financial officer and was promoted to executive vice president in 2009. He played a key role in the 2012 deal that led to Walgreens acquiring 45% of Alliance Boots with the option of completing a takeover of the company in 2015. Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson said Miquelon will continue to serve as adviser to the company through the completion of the Alliance Boots deal.
“Now that we are preparing to move forward with bringing together these two iconic brands, it’s the right time for me to transition to new challenges and new opportunities,” Miquelon said in a statement.
At Kraft, McLevish most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Source: Usatoday
