A former govt on the proprietor of Boots is in discussions about becoming a member of the board of the Russia-linked automobile which owns Holland & Barrett.
Sky News has learnt that Alex Gourlay, who stepped down as co-chief working officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance earlier this 12 months, is in superior talks to turn out to be a non-executive director of LetterOne.
City sources mentioned on Monday {that a} formal settlement had but to be reached however that Mr Gourlay was prone to be considered one of a number of new board members whose appointments would bolster company governance at LetterOne.
The firm is chaired by Lord Davies of Abersoch, the previous commerce minister and erstwhile boss of Standard Chartered, the rising markets financial institution.
Launched in 2013, LetterOne was based by a bunch of businessmen with hyperlinks to Russia, together with Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven.
LetterOne itself has not been sanctioned over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however Mr Fridman and Mr Aven have been focused by UK and European Union sanctions.
The two males’s shareholdings in LetterOne have been frozen, which means they can not obtain dividend earnings from their stakes.
If it goes forward, Mr Gourlay’s appointment could be positively obtained by stakeholders in Holland & Barrett, though insiders mentioned he could be becoming a member of LetterOne’s board relatively than being immediately concerned within the well being meals chain’s administration.
Last week, Sky News revealed that LetterOne had provided to purchase again almost £900m of Holland & Barrett’s debt in an effort to shore up its stability sheet.
Holland & Barrett, which trades from 800 shops within the UK and employs 8,000 folks, has been owned by LetterOne since 2017.
In whole, LetterOne-owned corporations make use of effectively over 100,000 folks.
A LetterOne spokesman declined to remark.
Source: information.sky.com”