Centene (CNC) will appoint five new directors

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) ("Centene") announced various enhancements today as part of its ongoing board refreshment and governance review process and a cooperation agreement the Company has entered into with Politan Capital Management ("Politan").

The Board of Directors will appoint five new directors: Ken Burdick, Christopher Coughlin, Wayne DeVeydt, and Theodore Samuels, as well as a fifth director to be mutually agreed upon by Centene and Politan. Appointments will be made on January 5, 2022. Current director James Dallas will become Lead Independent Director immediately and will assume the Independent Chair by the end of 2022.

"We are pleased to add high-quality Directors as part of our ongoing Board refreshment process. Our strategy and value creation plan are well-underway, and we have strong momentum entering into 2022, as outlined at our recent Investor Day," said Michael Neidorff, Chairman & CEO of Centene.

The reconstituted Board will be responsible for appointing a new CEO following a thorough selection process, including evaluating internal and external candidates with the support of an external search firm.

In addition, a subset of Centene's directors will be included in management's existing Value Creation Steering Committee, which was formed in July and is tasked with evaluating and prioritizing initiatives as part of the Company's previously announced Value Creation Plan.

Finally, Centene will implement a mandatory Board retirement age of 75 years, with existing directors grandfathered until their current election term is up. Six current directors will retire from the Board over time.

"The scope of the changes embraced by Centene demonstrates a true commitment to improved corporate governance and constructive engagement," said Quentin Koffey, Managing Partner, Politan Capital Management. "We are confident the fresh perspectives and exceptional experience the new directors will bring to the Board – particularly Ken and Wayne given their deep managed care leadership backgrounds – will help ensure Centene is ideally positioned to deliver excellent quality of care at lower costs while enhancing returns for all shareholders."

Pursuant to the cooperation agreements, Politan has agreed to customary standstill, voting, and other provisions. The full cooperation agreement will be filed on a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

New Centene Directors

• Ken Burdick served as the Chief Executive Officer of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. from 2015 until January 2020 when the company was sold to Centene. Ken joined WellCare in 2014, serving initially as President, National Health Plans and then as President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Burdick served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota from February 2012 to July 2012. From August 2010 to February 2012, he served as Chief Executive Officer of the Medicaid and Behavioral Health businesses of Coventry Health Care, Inc., and from October 1995 to May 2009, Mr. Burdick held a variety of positions with UnitedHealth Group, Inc.
• Chris Coughlin has an extensive track record of delivering shareholder value, having served as a senior financial and operating executive at a number of global public companies. Mr. Coughlin joined Tyco as Chief Financial Officer after the company's accounting scandal and played a central role in turning the company around and ultimately separating it into six publicly traded companies, which created significant shareholder value. He has also served as a director of large and complex healthcare companies including Allergan, Alexion, Covidien, among others. Mr. Coughlin was recently named a 2022 Director of the Year by the New Jersey Chapter of the NACD for his leadership in public corporate governance. In 2015, Mr. Coughlin was also named the NACD Corporate Director of the Year.
• Wayne S. DeVeydt has been Executive Chairman of the Board of Surgery Partners, Inc. since January of 2020. He previously held the title of Chief Executive Officer and Director since January 2018. Mr. DeVeydt previously served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Anthem, Inc. for nearly a decade, overseeing the financial operations associated with the company's over $82 billion in annual revenues. During his tenure at Anthem, he also held numerous other leadership roles, including Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, and Chief of Staff to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Anthem, Mr. DeVeydt was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
• Ted Samuels has over 35 years of experience in the financial industry and brings extensive business and operational expertise, particularly with respect to economics, capital markets and investment decision making. Mr. Samuels is the former president of Capital Guardian Trust Company and a former global equity portfolio manager at Capital Group, one of the most prominent investment management organizations in the world that grew to $1.4 trillion during his tenure. While at Capital Group he served on numerous management and investment committees, with an eye towards long-term shareholder value creation. Mr. Samuels currently serves on the boards of Bristol Myers Squibb, where he is Lead Independent Director, and Perrigo. He also served on the Board of Stamps.com until October 2021 when the company was acquired.

You May Also Be Interested In

• LQR House unit signs two-year ByteDance AI computing deal
• DarioHealth adds former Humana compliance chief to advisory board
• Comcast upgraded by Rosenblatt, Deutsche Bank after NBCUniversal spinoff plan