Veropharm shareholders approve delisting; Abbot reps join board
MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Shareholders in Veropharm approved the delisting of company shares at an extraordinary meeting on December 11, the pharmaceutical maker said in a statement.
Shares in Veropharm plummeted on the news: they fell 15.9% to 875 rubles, although they had jumped more than 20% this morning, reaching a high of 1,330 rubles, on news that Abbott was paying around 1,700 rubles a share, above market price, for Veropharm.
Veropharm also said that shareholders elected the new board of directors made up of representatives from Abbot of the U.S., which earlier closed acquisition of 98.3% of Veropharm shares.
In particular the following joined the board: Abbott's senior vice president of established pharmaceuticals - emerging markets, George De Vos; Abbott in Russia CEO Elena Kartasheva; and Veropharm head Dmitry Sovetkin, who was earlier the regional director for CIS countries for established pharmaceuticals. In addition, the following also joined the board: Anton Herbig, who is responsible for global manufacturing at Abbott; Leonid Goldstein, who is responsible for licensing and acquisitions at Abbott; Frank Weitekamper and Patricia Geran.
The number of directors was reduced from nine to seven.
