R.P. SCHERER's NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO IS ERNST SCHOEPE

R.P. SCHERER's NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO IS ERNST SCHOEPE following the Nov. 10 resignation of Peter Fink. A member of the board since 1985, Schoepe joined the capsule maker in 1973, most recently serving as VP and chief operating officer until April 1988. Fink's resignation is one of three announced by the company in the aftermath of an unpleasant proxy battle that pitted management against principal shareholder Karla Scherer Fink, the estranged wife of Peter Fink. VP-Finance David Collins and General Counsel W. Merritt Jones also stepped down from their positions. "This is a crucial period for the company ]since[ by unanimous vote the board has agreed to review financial alternatives, including a possible sale of all or part of the company, a recapitalization or a management-led buyout," Fink remarked. "In my judgment, removing myself from an operating and executive role will facilitate and enhance the board's decisionmaking process." Jones is succeeded as corporate general counsel by new board member Theodore Souris, an ally of Karla Fink whose election was hotly contested ("The Pink Sheet" Oct. 10, T&G-5). A successor to Collins has not yet been named. Schoepe resigned as chief operating officer at the end of April just prior to the board's rejection of Karla Fink's proposal to sell the company. Schoepe was one of three board members voting in favor of the proposal, along with Karla Fink and her brother John Scherer. One of the first duties of the realigned board will likely be to elect a new chairman, a slot that has been vacant since the retirement of Wilber Mack at the beginning of October.