Concordia Healthcare leadership changes get thumbs up at Laurentian

A board and management shakeup at Concordia Healthcare (Concordia Healthcare Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:CXR) is a positive, says Laurentian Bank Securities analyst Joseph Walewicz.

On Monday, Concordia announced several personnel changes. Out are board members Ronald Schmeichel and John Huss, who will not stand for re-election, in are industry veterans Edward Borkowski and Rochelle Fuhrmann. Meanwhile, Adrian de Saldanha has been appointed as CFO, succeeding Leith Tessy, and Wayne Kreppner will be promoted to the role of president, replacing Mark Thompson.

“On behalf of the nominating and corporate governance committee and the board of directors as a whole, I am very pleased to announce the nomination of Edward and Rochelle to the board of directors. This nomination is an important part of several recent and ongoing pharmaceutical industry leadership and corporate governance enhancement initiatives that have been undertaken by the board,” said Thompson.

Walewicz says the changes are in keeping with a company that is growing in stature.

“We view the proposed moves as a “maturing” process,” he said. “After nearly 18 months as a public company and much success, Concordia is putting in place a Board with stronger U.S. public company (and specialty pharma) financial expertise, and working to put the FTC investigation behind it. The company has long discussed that a U.S. listing is coming, and we view these changes as part of that process.”

In a research update to clients yesterday, Walewicz maintained his “Buy” rating and one year target price of $106.00 on Concordia Healthcare.

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