As CVS Health pushes to turn around its financial fortunes, it has entered into a deal with key investor Glenview Capital Management that will add four members to its board of directors.
The addition of Leslie Norwalk, Larry Robbins, Guy Sansone and Doug Shulman will bring CVS' total number of board members to 16, the company said in an announcement Monday morning. Norwalk will become a member of the Health Services Committee, while Sansone will join the Audit Committee, CVS said.
Shulman will take a role on the Management Planning and Development Committee.
CVS said the decision to expand the board was made "following productive discussions with Glenview Capital Management."
Robbins is Glenview's CEO; Sansone is the CEO of physical rehabilitation company H2 Health; Norwalk is the strategic counsel for multiple healthcare companies through roles at Epstein Becker Green, EBG Advisors and National Health Advisors; and Shulman is the chairman of OneMain Holdings.
“In our discussions with the leadership at Glenview, we agreed that we can deliver greater value from our integrated businesses to all of our stakeholders, including our customers, consumers, colleagues, and shareholders,” said Roger Farah, executive chairman of the board at CVS Health, in the press release. “Having Leslie, Larry, Guy and Doug join our Board will add new thinking and deep market and industry experiences as we focus on driving greater financial and operational performance.”
Alongside the board appointments, Glenview agreed to sign a confidentiality agreement with CVS, according to the release.
The company's top brass met with Robbins and leadership at Glenview as it kicked off a strategic review aimed at improving its financial fortunes. Reports coming out of these meetings suggested that many options were on the table, including potentially splitting up its assets, including insurance arm Aetna, though Glenview denied in a statement that it was pressuring CVS for a breakup.
Glenview owns about 1% of outstanding shares in CVS, and the healthcare company accounts for about $700 million of its $2.5 billion in funding, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“We welcome the opportunity to join the Board, roll up our sleeves and lock arms with the Board and leadership team to drive long-term, sustainable value through continued customer-centric offerings, commitment to compliance and quality, disciplined underwriting and risk management, aligned incentives, and optimal capital allocation,” said Robbins in the release. “We appreciate the Board engaging with us on a cooperative basis that allows all energies to be productively dedicated towards further strengthening this iconic company.”