President & COO Kurt Hilzinger Resigns
VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17,
2007--AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE: ABC) today announced a more
streamlined organizational structure designed to drive increased
efficiency and effectiveness and better position the Company to
continue to achieve its long-term financial goals.
Kurt J. Hilzinger has resigned his position as AmerisourceBergen
President and Chief Operating Officer and as a Director of the Company
to join a private equity firm. "Kurt has made a huge contribution to
AmerisourceBergen and its legacy companies in the 16 years we have
worked together, and the Company would not be in its current strong
position without his leadership, hard work and insights," said R.
David Yost, AmerisourceBergen Chief Executive Officer. "I will miss
Kurt on both a professional and personal level, and wish him all the
best at his new firm."
"With the recent spin off of our institutional pharmacy business,
which represented nearly 25 percent of our associates, and the need to
evolve our information technology platform, we had been reviewing our
future organizational structure for some time," commented Yost.
"Subsequently, with the resignation of Kurt, we have finalized an
organization which will create the future infrastructure and cost
structure that ensures we will continue to increase our efficiency and
effectiveness."
The organizational changes will be as follows:
-- The position of Chief Operating Officer will not be filled and
Yost will again assume the position of President of
AmerisourceBergen Corporation.
-- Steven H. Collis will be promoted to Executive Vice President
of AmerisourceBergen and continues as President of
AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group reporting to Yost. He adds
new responsibilities for shaping the Company's policies and
strategies and for more closely integrating the Specialty
Group across AmerisourceBergen.
-- Michael D. DiCandilo continues as Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer, adds additional responsibilities, and
continues to report to Yost. Reporting directly to DiCandilo
under his added responsibilities are: Thomas H. Murphy, Senior
Vice President and Chief Information Officer; Ed Hancock,
President of AmerisourceBergen Packaging Group; and Mark
Hollifield, President PMSI.
-- Terrance P. Haas will be promoted to Executive Vice President
and Chief Integration Officer, leaving his position as Senior
Vice President and President of AmerisourceBergen Drug
Corporation (ABDC). In his new role, which reports to Yost, he
will lead the multi-year implementation of an Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) information technology system for the
Drug Corporation within the Company's current capital and
expense structure. Haas successfully led the Company's
multi-year distribution network integration following the
merger that created AmerisourceBergen.
-- Yost assumes direct leadership of AmerisourceBergen Drug
Corporation with the executives heading Sales and Marketing,
Supply Chain Management, and Operations functions reporting
directly to him.
-- Joining the AmerisourceBergen Executive Management Committee,
which already includes Yost, Collis, Haas and DiCandilo, will
be John G. Chou, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and
Secretary, and Jeanne B. Fisher, Senior Vice President, Human
Resources. Chou and Fisher will also become Executive Officers
of the Company.
"We are very excited about the future of our industry and the role
of AmerisourceBergen in that industry," said Yost. "Our diluted
earnings per share from continue operations expectations for fiscal
year 2007 remain unchanged in a range of $2.50 to $2.58, including a
net benefit of $0.05 from special items. This range reflects the spin
off of our institutional pharmacy business, which becomes a
discontinued operation for the full year."
Commenting on fiscal year 2008, Yost said, "We are still
completing our planning for the coming fiscal year, and as is our
practice, we will provide guidance for FY 2008 when we release our
fiscal year 2007 results on November 1, 2007. I am very optimistic
about fiscal year 2008, and expect our performance to be in line with
our long-term financial goals."
About AmerisourceBergen
AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) is one of the world's largest
pharmaceutical services companies serving the United States, Canada
and selected global markets. Servicing both pharmaceutical
manufacturers and healthcare providers in the pharmaceutical supply
channel, the Company provides drug distribution and related services
designed to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.
AmerisourceBergen's service solutions range from pharmacy automation
and pharmaceutical packaging to reimbursement and pharmaceutical
consulting services. With more than $64 billion in annual revenue,
AmerisourceBergen is headquartered in Valley Forge, PA, and employs
more than 11,500 people. AmerisourceBergen is ranked #29 on the
Fortune 500 list. For more information, go to
www.amerisourcebergen.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release may contain certain "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements
are based on management's current expectations and are subject to
uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary
materially from the expectations contained in the forward-looking
statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual
results to differ materially from those described in any
forward-looking statements: competitive pressures; the loss of one or
more key customer or supplier relationships; customer defaults or
insolvencies; changes in customer mix; supplier defaults or
insolvencies; changes in pharmaceutical manufacturers' pricing and
distribution policies or practices; adverse resolution of any contract
or other disputes with customers (including departments and agencies
of the U.S. Government) or suppliers; regulatory changes (including
increased government regulation of the pharmaceutical supply channel);
government enforcement initiatives (including (i) the imposition of
increased obligations upon pharmaceutical distributors to detect and
prevent suspicious orders of controlled substances (ii) the
commencement of further administrative actions by the U. S. Drug
Enforcement Administration seeking to suspend or revoke the license of
any of the Company's distribution facilities to distribute controlled
substances, or (iii) the commencement of any enforcement actions by
any U.S. Attorney alleging violation of laws and regulations regarding
diversion of controlled substances and suspicious order monitoring);
changes in U.S. government policies (including reimbursement changes
arising from federal legislation, including the Medicare Modernization
Act and the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005); changes in regulatory or
clinical medical guidelines and/or reimbursement practices for the
pharmaceuticals we distribute; price inflation in branded
pharmaceuticals and price deflation in generics; the inability of the
Company to successfully complete any transaction that the Company may
wish to pursue from time to time; fluctuations in market interest
rates; operational or control issues arising from the Company's
outsourcing of information technology activities; success of
integration, restructuring or systems initiatives; fluctuations in the
U.S. dollar - Canadian dollar exchange rate and other foreign exchange
rates; economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory developments
in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere outside of the United
States; acquisition of businesses that do not perform as we expect or
that are difficult for us to integrate or control; changes in tax
legislation or adverse resolution of challenges to our tax positions;
and other economic, business, competitive, legal, tax, regulatory
and/or operational factors affecting the business of the Company
generally. Certain additional factors that management believes could
cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those
described in forward-looking statements are set forth (i) in Item 1A
(Risk Factors) in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended September 30, 2006 and elsewhere in that report and
(ii) in other reports filed by the Company pursuant to the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934.
CONTACT: AmerisourceBergen Corporation
Michael N. Kilpatric, 610-727-7118
[email protected]
SOURCE: AmerisourceBergen Corporation