Stefano Pessina Biography

Stefano Pessina is the Executive Chairman of Alliance Boots, a global pharmacy-led health and beauty company. The Group was formed in July 2006 as a consequence of the combination of Alliance UniChem and Boots Group; it was then bought and privatized by AB Acquisitions Ltd in July 2007. (a company jointly controlled by Stefano Pessina and certain funds advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts). Stefano is the Group's true architect. He was born in Italy and graduated from the Milan Polytechnic in nuclear engineering before beginning his career in academia and then joining market research firm ACNielsen in Milan. He joined his family's local pharmaceutical wholesaling company in the mid-1970s. His goal of a global pharmaceutical conglomerate dates back to that time. Stefano restructured the family firm before acquiring several other small pharmaceutical wholesale businesses in 1977 to form Alleanza Farmaceutica, which ultimately became Alleanza Salute Italia. By 1985, he was in charge of Italy's largest pharmaceutical distributor. Stefano extended his company into numerous Southern European nations through mergers, acquisitions, and alliances in 1988. The Alliance Sant Group was formed in 1991 as a result of these purchases and a novel merging with several French wholesalers. This was supposed to be the starting point for subsequent worldwide expansion. In 1998, Alliance Sant joined with UniChem of the United Kingdom to establish the Alliance UniChem Group, of which Stefano remained CEO until 2004, before becoming Executive Deputy Chairman. He transformed Alliance UniChem from a predominantly pharmaceutical wholesaler with a few countries' presence to a pan-European leader with two core businesses, pharmaceutical wholesale and retail pharmacy, in more than 12 countries in just a few years. Stefano oversaw the merger of Alliance UniChem Plc and Boots Group PLC to become Alliance Boots plc in 2006. In 2007, he co-founded AB Acquisitions and bought Alliance Boots with the goal of expanding the Group's position as an international leader in the healthcare services and beauty industries. Stefano made an important step in realizing his aim of becoming a worldwide leader in 2012, when he formed a strategic alliance with Alliance Boots and Walgreens, the largest pharmacy store chain in the United States. This collaboration, which intends to establish the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellness company, is a significant step forward for the healthcare sector as a whole. Alliance Boots and Walgreens established an innovative long-term relationship with AmerisourceBergen, one of North America's major pharmaceutical services firms, in March 2013. This collaboration will allow the three organizations to benefit from increased size and worldwide prospects, as well as collaborate on projects to improve service levels and efficiencies. Alliance Boots is now a significant multinational pharmacy-led health and beauty organization, providing a diverse variety of goods and services to clients in collaboration with manufacturers and pharmacists. Its two primary business operations are pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing and pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution. Alliance Boots is a privately held company that employs approximately 108,000 people. Its wholesale and distribution network of over 370 pharmaceutical wholesale distribution centers serves over 170,000 pharmacies, doctors, health centers, and hospitals. It has over 3,100 health and beauty retail outlets in 9 countries, with slightly over 3,000 of them including a pharmacy. Stefano is a non-executive director of many Group businesses and affiliates in addition to leading the Alliance Boots Board and management team. In addition, as Walgreens' largest shareholder, he serves on the company's board of directors. He is regarded as a driving force in the healthcare business, and he has earned several accolades and distinctions for his contributions to the profession.

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