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Procter & Gamble changes leadership

Household-products giant Procter & Gamble Co., which sells Crest and Pampers, changed leaders Thursday, but it was unclear whether that would affect a joint venture with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

A.G Lafley, president and CEO of Procter and Gamble, speaks at the companies annual shareholderes meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005, in Cincinnati. Swollen by the acquisition of Gillette Co., Lafley told shareholders what to expect as the consumer projects company begins merging the razor maker into its global operations. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
A.G Lafley, president and CEO of Procter and Gamble, speaks at the companies annual shareholderes meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005, in Cincinnati. Swollen by the acquisition of Gillette Co., Lafley told shareholders what to expect as the consumer projects company begins merging the razor maker into its global operations. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)Read moreASSOCIATED PRESS
    by David Sell, Inquirer Staff Writer
    Published 

Household-products giant Procter & Gamble Co., which sells Crest and Pampers, changed leaders Thursday, but there was no immediate indication it would affect a joint venture with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

"We are delighted by the interaction we have had with P&G and have no reason to expect that will change," Teva chief executive officer Jeremy Levin said Friday evening through a spokeswoman.

However, leadership changes can prompt reviews of previous deals and the two men leading the companies when PGT Healthcare was announced in March 2011 are both gone.

P&G, of Cincinnati, replaced CEO Bob McDonald on Thursday night with his predecessor, A.G. Lafley, effective immediately. McDonald had taken over in 2009. About nine months after McDonald and Teva's Shlomo Yanai announced the deal to sell over-the-counter health products, Teva replaced Yanai with Levin.

Teva is based in Israel and has its Americas headquarters in North Wales, Montgomery County,

P&G had nearly $84 billion in revenue in 2012, four times more than Teva, but both companies are searching for ways to boost sales, cut costs, and bolster their share prices. Teva's cost-cutting includes halting development of a facility in Northeast Philadelphia and announcing plans to close a plant in Bucks County.

Still, Teva and P&G had a ceremonial groundbreaking Jan. 29 for new plant in India to serve the joint venture.

P&G said in its last quarterly report its broad health-care category had a net sales increase of 8 percent, to $3.3 billion, compared to the same period in 2012. P&G did not specify its portion of the PGT Healthcare revenue, but said volume in the personal health care subcategory increased by double digits partially due to the joint venture.

Teva said in its first-quarter financial report that joint-venture revenue increased 47 percent, from $163 million in 2012 to $240 million in 2013. "Given global trends and demographies, we think this is a growth engine for the company now and into the future, and we see the PGT joint venture as a key enabler," Teva's Levin told financial analysts Nov. 1, the first anniversary of the official start of PGT.