Former Pfizer CEO Ian Read and former CFO Frank D'Amelio said Wednesday evening that they were withdrawing from Starboard Value's campaign on the troubled pharmaceutical giant, just days after news of the activist's involvement broke.
Read and D'Amelio said they “fully support” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in a joint statement issued through an investment bank and confirmed as authentic. The duo had been in touch with several directors shortly before news of Starboard's involvement broke Sunday evening, in accordance with people acquainted with the matter.
“We are confident that they will create value for shareholders over time,” the 2 former executives said of Pfizer’s current board and management. The company's shares are essentially flat for the yr and are about 50% below their 2021 highs.
The statement was made by Guggenheim Securities, which has long advised Pfizer on the deal. A representative for the bank declined to comment beyond publication.
The about-face comes as Pfizer's board grapples with the activist's efforts and just days before Starboard's Jeff Smith was scheduled to fulfill with CEO Bourla, people acquainted with the matter said. For executives to hitch after which leave an activist's campaign is very unusual.
It also wasn't immediately clear what impact, if any, the spinoff would have on Starboard's campaign. A representative for the activist fund didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Starboard, one in all the biggest and most persistent activist funds, has built a roughly $1 billion stake within the pharmaceutical company, CNBC previously reported.
Jeff Smith, the chief member at Starboard, has previously campaigned at Autodesk And Salesforce in the previous few months. While it typically focuses on the technology sector, it has also built holdings Starbucks and parent company of the Wall Street Journal News Corp this yr.
Pfizer representatives didn’t reply to requests for comment.
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