RETAIL/WHOLESALE

Berlin  -  The communicative defensive abilities of Europe's leading pharmaceutical trading group Phoenix are legendary. Even after the turbulence concerning the future of the Merckle empire, little has changed in this respect: As early as the end of January, Øyvind Winther withdrew from the executive board of the pharmaceutical retailer. Only a comment on the company website provides information about the staffing issue.

Winther took on the newly created board department retail and thereby the central leadership of the chain's activities in February 2008. He was said to be qualified for the post due to, among other things, his experience with the liberalisation of the pharmacy market in his home country: Winther spent six years as head of the Norwegian regional company Apokjeden.

According to the comment, Winther relocated for family reasons to a company based in Oslo. Until a successor has been appointed, Phoenix head Reimund Pohl is taking control of his department. Henry Iberl (Marketing/Sales), Dr. Hans-Ulrich Kummer (Operations/Logistics) and Dr. Michael Majerus (Finance) are also part of the executive board. Reorganisation expert Dr. Michael Keppel is working with trustee Professor Dr. Harald Wiedmann on restructuring the convoluted company.

Patrick Hollstein, Fri, May 21, 2010 04:23pm CET