Patterson Companies Names Mark Walchirk President and CEO
October 24 2017 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Patterson Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq:PDCO) today named Mark
Walchirk President and Chief Executive Officer, effective November
20, 2017. He will succeed James Wiltz, who will continue to serve
as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer until that time
and will remain on the Patterson Board following the transition.
Mr. Walchirk will also become a member of the Board, which will be
expanded to include nine directors, as of the effective date.
Mr. Walchirk joins Patterson with nearly 30 years of experience
in healthcare services and distribution, including 16 successful
years at McKesson Corporation, a global leader in healthcare supply
chain management solutions, retail pharmacy, community oncology and
specialty care, and healthcare information technology. There, he
most recently served as President of U.S. Pharmaceutical, the
largest business unit within McKesson’s North America
pharmaceutical distribution & services segment. In that role,
Mr. Walchirk was responsible for leading over 7,500 employees
across all disciplines and delivering strong financial results. He
brings deep experience in leading a complex, sales-driven
organization, managing a growing, state-of-the art distribution
network, and fostering innovative offerings to meet customers’
needs.
“After a thorough search, we are pleased to have found such an
exceptional leader and operator as Mark to lead Patterson going
forward,” said John D. Buck, Chairman. “Mark has a proven track
record of success in helping a large and complex market leader
navigate through an evolving and dynamic environment to achieve
growth. Patterson will benefit from his customer-first mindset,
focus on operational excellence, and ability to develop unique
solutions to create value for our partners, customers, and
shareholders. The Board is confident that Mark is the right person
to guide the continued evolution and growth of our business in the
years ahead.”
Mr. Buck continued, “I would also like to thank Jim Wiltz for
his contributions as Interim President and CEO. Under Jim’s
leadership, Patterson has continued to take actions to strengthen
our sales execution and technology platforms in Dental, improve
Animal Health margins, and implement our enterprise resource system
to drive greater efficiencies across the entire business. We look
forward to continuing to benefit from Jim’s valuable experience as
an ongoing member of the Board.”
Mr. Walchirk said, “Patterson is a great company with a proud
history and an extraordinary opportunity to leverage its position
in its markets to deliver great service and solutions to customers
and value to shareholders. I am honored and excited to help lead
the team during this transformative time, and I look forward to
working closely with the Board and management team to drive
Patterson’s continued success.”
Mark Walchirk Biography
Mr. Walchirk, 51, served as President of U.S. Pharmaceutical at
McKesson Corporation since October 2012, where he held
responsibility for McKesson’s U.S. Pharmaceutical sales,
distribution and customer service operations. Mr. Walchirk joined
McKesson in April 2001 and held various leadership positions,
including President of McKesson Specialty Care Solutions and Chief
Operating Officer of McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical. Before joining
McKesson, he spent 13 years in medical-surgical distribution and
manufacturing with Baxter Healthcare, Allegiance Healthcare and
Encompass Group, holding various leadership positions in sales,
marketing, operations and business development. Mr. Walchirk earned
a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois.
Disclosure of employment inducement grant in accordance with
NASDAQ rules: Patterson’s employment agreement with Mr. Walchirk
provides for the issuance of an inducement award. On December 1,
2017, Patterson will grant Mr. Walchirk a restricted stock unit
award covering a number of shares of Patterson common stock with a
value of $2 million based on the per-share closing price of
Patterson’s common stock on the grant date. Such award will vest,
assuming continued employment, to the extent of 50% of the award on
the first anniversary of the grant date and the remaining 50% of
the award on the second anniversary of the grant date. The other
terms and conditions of the inducement award are set forth in the
form of award agreement to be filed with the SEC. This restricted
stock unit award, which will be granted outside our 2015 Omnibus
Incentive Plan, was approved by our Compensation Committee pursuant
to the inducement grant exception under NASDAQ Rule 5635(c)(4), as
an inducement material to Mr. Walchirk entering into employment
with Patterson.
About Patterson Companies, Inc.
Patterson Companies Inc. (Nasdaq: PDCO) is a value-added
distributor serving the dental and animal health markets.
Dental Market
Patterson's Dental segment provides a virtually complete range
of consumable dental products, equipment and software, turnkey
digital solutions and value-added services to dentists and dental
laboratories throughout North America.
Animal Health Market
Patterson's Animal Health segment is a leading distributor of
products, services and technologies to both the production and
companion animal health markets in North America and the U.K.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171024005869/en/
Patterson Companies, Inc.Ann B. Gugino, 651-686-1600Executive
Vice President & CFOorJohn M. Wright, 651-686-1364Vice
President, Investor Relations
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