Walgreen CEO to Retire After Alliance Boots Deal Closes

By Tess Stynes 

Walgreen Co. said Chief Executive Greg Wasson plans to retire after the drug-store chain's acquisition of the remaining 55% stake in Alliance Boots GmbH that it doesn't already own.

The company said that Stefano Pessina, executive chairman of Alliance Boots, will serve as acting CEO, pending a board search for a successor.

When the deal was announced in August, Mr. Wasson, who has been CEO since 2009, was expected to have the same role in the combined company--called Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

Alliance Boots Executive Chairman Stefano Pessina was expected to be the executive vice chairman of Walgreens Boots.

Mr. Wasson,who joined the drugstore chain in 1980 as a pharmacy intern, is expected to retire shortly after the close of the second step of the Alliance Boots transaction, on which shareholders are scheduled to vote on Dec. 29.

After the deal closes, Walgreens Chairman James Skinner will become Walgreens Boots Alliance's executive chairman.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

Access Investor Kit for KKR & Co. LP

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US48248M1027

Access Investor Kit for Walgreen Co.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US9314221097

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires