This is a surprising move considering that the shareholders have always been united throughout the company’s 17-year history “Did they have an argument? No, not at all,” said the above-quoted sources.
A&D Pharma representatives made no comment on Ludovic Robert’s departure.
In 1994, Ludovic Robert, 39, together with Walid Abboud, Michel Eid and Roger Akoury set up the group (under a different name at that time) that has now become an over half a billion-euro business and they are the most powerful entrepreneurs in the drug industry. Ludovic Robert had been part of the company’s board since it was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006.
The four have kept a very low profile since the beginning, never doing interviews, nor showing up at public events. There was only one exception in 2009, when one of them talked to ZF about the start of the business, but asked that he not be named.
The first photos of three of the founders first became available in the annual 2010 report of A&D Pharma, while it was still listed on the London Stock Exchange. The projects and results of the group used to be presented before the media by its chief executive officer, Dragos Dinu at first and now Robert Popescu.
There is information on the drug market that two of the shareholders authorized UniCredit to find a buyer. Robert Popescu, the company’s CEO, said three months ago that there were no active talks about a possible sale and that this year’s delisting from the LSE was not operated with a sale in mind.
This is not the first time there are such rumors on the market. On the other hand, the situation is a little different now and they may find a buyer considering investment funds are on the hunt.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu; Editing by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)