Cipla Medpro has released a statement saying that an additional list of charges has been brought against its suspended CEO, Jerome Smith. “These additional charges do not replace the original list of charges put to Mr Smith on 27 August 2012,” the company said.
The hearing, which was previously postponed, will now start on 8 October with a new independent chairman, Advocate Paul Pretorius SC.
The shock suspension of Smith in August was followed by an announcement that negotiations with an unknown party have been terminated. The company admitted that Smith’s suspension was the reason negotiations were halted.
The market had speculated that Cipla could have been a takeover target – perhaps by Cipla India, a generics titan with which it has a 20-year supply agreement – or that it was in the process of purchase another firm to fortify its revenue streams.
Cipla’s share price fell from 840c to 586c in the aftermath of the suspension, before recovering to above 600c. The share fell more than 2% to 666c on Wednesday morning.
