Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) chairman Dr. Phillip Frost, who succeeded the late Eli Hurvitz, after he retired for health reasons, has apparently begun the campaign to run for another term.
At the press conference marking the publication of Teva's financial report for the first quarter, Frost said he was interested in serving as chairman for another three years, which seems entirely natural, and he thanked the board for its confidence in him. Nonetheless, Frost's remarks imply that he has not yet been chosen for the job. He recently won a new term as director, and his expression of thanks may have referred to that .
Only after Frost's term as a director is approved by Teva's general shareholders meeting can the company nominate him for another term as chairman. This approval will apparently only come this summer. However, his term is officially due to end in mid-2013, and there may be no official movement on the matter this year.
Frost made the announcement because other parties, both on Teva's board of directors and off it, want the chairmanship, and are planning to run against Frost. Current directors mentioned in this connection include Amir Elstein, who previously served as EVP global pharmaceutical resources and currently serves as chairman of Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) and Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM); Chaim Hurvitz, son of Eli Hurvitz, who was head of Teva's international division; and Dan Suesskind, who was Teva's CFO for decades.
Teva's share price fell 1.5% in morning trading on the TASE to NIS 159.50, after falling 0.6% on Nasdaq on Friday to $41.81, giving a market cap of $36.5 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 13, 2012
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