CVS adds Glenview Capital Management founder to board

CVS Health Corp. named Glenview Capital Management founder Larry Robbins to its board as part of an agreement with the activist firm that’s been pressuring the company for change. 

Robbins is one of four new members who will bring the board’s number of directors to 16, the drugstore chain said Monday in a statement. CVS shares rose as much as 2.9% when markets opened in New York. 

CVS has withdrawn its guidance for this year and offered investors no outlook for the next amid struggles in both the pharmacy and insurance businesses. In September, CVS executives met with Glenview, which had accumulated a stake of about $700 million and was pushing for change.

Glenview asked for “immediate board refreshment” but otherwise had not said publicly what it wants the company to do differently. In October, CVS replaced Chief Executive Officer Karen Lynch with David Joyner.

Also named to CVS’s board Monday were Leslie Norwalk, who counsels health-care companies at Epstein Becker Green and other firms; Guy Sansone, CEO of rehabilitation services provider H2 Health; and Doug Shulman, CEO of OneMain Holdings, a lender. 

The new board members bring health expertise that “should add comfort to investors” around the future of CVS’s insurance business as well as the long-term outlook of the company, Evercore ISI analysts said in a note to clients.

CVS has been facing stricter rules for reimbursements for private versions of Medicare and increased competition in its retail division. The stock has lost about a third of its value this year.

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