REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Aug. 10, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Actavis Group hf. ("ACT") announces today that Mark Keatley has been appointed as Chief Executive of Finance of the Actavis Group from 1 September and will become a member of the Group's Executive Board. Mark joins Actavis from Famar SA, the leading European contract manufacturer of pharmaceuticals, where he has served as the CFO in London since 2002. Prior to joining Famar, he served as CFO at Ardana Bioscience Limited in Edinburgh from 2001-2002 and Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited in Accra, Ghana from 1994-2000.
Prior to his roles as CFO, Mark was an investment banker at the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC, where he executed a number of financings for companies in emerging markets. He started his career as a financial analyst at Ford Motor Company in Europe. Mark brings with him over ten years' experience at Board level in CFO positions at international companies. He has contributed substantially to the growth of these companies through acquisitions, corporate development and building financial systems. Mark has been through the process of two stock exchange listings, in London and New York. In his career to date, he has transacted US$2.5 billion of financings and has negotiated US$1.2 billion of corporate acquisitions and disposals.
Mark holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School, USA, and graduated from Cambridge University, UK with a Master of Philosophy degree in International Relations and an MA in History. He is a qualified accountant in the UK where he is a member of the UK Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Robert Wessman, President and CEO of Actavis, commented: "I am delighted to welcome Mark to the Executive Board, a role for which he is well prepared through his extensive experience both within investment banking and working for international companies. This appointment is particularly timely as Actavis builds its international profile through its recent acquisitions."
For further information contact; Halldor Kristmannsson Director of Corporate Communications Tel: +354 550 3300 / +354 840 3425
About Actavis
Actavis Group is an international pharmaceutical company, founded in 1956, specialising in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Headquartered in Iceland, Actavis employs around 7,000 people worldwide and has operations in 28 countries with development and manufacturing facilities in Iceland, Bulgaria, Turkey, Malta, Serbia and the USA.