Cardinal Health has named a new CEO and chairman, effective upon completion of the planned spinoff of its CareFusion subsidiary at the end of August.
George Barrett, currently vice chairman and CEO of the company’s healthcare supply chain services, will succeed R. Kerry Clark, who had previously announced that he would retire following completion of the CareFusion spinoff.
Barrett, 54, joined Cardinal Health in 2008. He had previously served as CEO of Teva North America and corporate executive vice president of global pharmaceutical markets of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. He had also worked for Diad Research, Alpharma, Inc., and NMC Laboratories.
CareFusion encompasses Cardinal Health’s medical products businesses and includes Alaris IV pumps, Pyxis automated dispensing and patient identification systems, AVEA and Pulmonetic Systems ventilation and respiratory products, ChloraPrep and MedMined infection prevention software and services, V. Mueller surgical instruments and a line of products to support interventional medicine.
Capping a year-long process, Cardinal Health officials announced on July 10 that the board of directors had unanimously approved the spinoff through a pro rata distribution of at least 80 percent of the shares of CareFusion common stock to Cardinal Health shareholders.
The distribution of shares of CareFusion common stock will be made after the close of trading on Aug. 31 to Cardinal Health's shareholders of record as of 5 p.m. EDT on Aug. 25, the record date for the spinoff.
Cardinal Health will distribute 0.5 share of CareFusion common stock for each common share of Cardinal Health outstanding as of the record date. Shareholders will receive cash in lieu of fractional shares of CareFusion common stock.
In related news, Glenn A. Britt, 60, chairman, president and CEO of Time Warner Cable, has been named to the Cardinal Health board of directors, effective Oct. 1. And John Finn was selected as presiding director of the board and named as chairman of the audit committee, with both appointments effective upon completion of the CareFusion spinoff.
