Steven H. Collis will retire as president and CEO of Cencora Inc., one of the region's largest public companies, on Oct. 1.

As part of a succession plan announced Tuesday, Collis will be replaced by Cencora Chief Operating Officer Robert Mauch, who will also join the company's board of directors.

Collis will remain with the Conshohocken-based wholesale pharmaceutical company as its executive chairman.

Cencora (NYSE: COR), which ranks 11th on the Fortune 500 list, was previously known as AmerisourceBergen Corp. before rebranding in August. The company was created in 2001 through the $7 billion merger of AmeriSource Health Corp. of Valley Forge and Bergen Brunswig Corp. of Orange, California.

Cencora's stock price showed little change following the succession news, with shares trading down slightly at $237.05 late Tuesday morning.

Collis, 62, has served as CEO since 2011. While at the helm, the company's revenue more than tripled from $80 billion to $262 billion in 2023. The company has also grown to 46,000 employees in 50 countries.

Cencora posted a net income of $1.75 billion in fiscal 2023, which ended Sept. 30, up 2.74% from its fiscal 2022 profit of $1.7 billion.

“Steve’s 30-year career at Cencora has been characterized by purpose-driven leadership, delivering phenomenal growth in domestic and international markets, diversification of the business, and the successful launch of a global brand that positions the company for even greater success," said Mark Durcan, the lead independent director of Cencora, in a statement. "Throughout his tenure, Steve has been a visionary leader."

Under Collis, Cencora in 2021 moved its headquarters to Conshohocken where it occupies an 11-story, 429,122-square-foot office building at 1 W. First Ave.

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Collis has had to deal with a mountain of lawsuits filed by local and state governments and the U.S. Department of Justice alleging pharmaceutical distributors played a role in the country's opioid abuse epidemic. In February 2022, while not admitting any wrongdoing, Cencora agreed to pay $6.1 billion over 18 years as part of $19.5 billion settlement agreement approved by a group of drug distribution companies.

Last year, Collis announced Cencora was investing $100 million in Ariel Alternatives’ inaugural private equity fund, Project Black, which was created to buy or establish minority-led suppliers for large corporations. The goal of the $1.45 billion fund is to help ensure Fortune 500 companies have access to more diverse vendors.

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Mauch joined what was then AmerisourceBergen in 2007 as president of Xcenda, a division of the company that provides reimbursement and business consulting services to pharmaceutical firms.

Following a series of promotions, he was named executive vice president and COO in October 2022. Mauch received a PharmD degree from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and his doctorate in pharmaceutical science from the University of South Carolina.

When Collis retires in October, Mauch will become just the third CEO in the company's 23-year history. Collis succeed R. David Yost, who was CEO of AmeriSource Health prior to the union with Bergen Brunswig and continued in the post after they combined.

The merger almost never happened.

Three years before the deal was finalized, AmeriSource was set to be acquired by the country's largest wholesale drug supplier at the time, San Francisco-based McKesson Corp. The deal was thwarted when the Federal Trade Commission stepped in and blocked the transaction on antitrust grounds.

Author: John George

Publication: Philadelphia Business Journal

Link: Cencora CEO Steven Collis to retire; company names successor - Philadelphia Business Journal (bizjournals.com)