Jana Partners wins Walgreen board seats

Sept 8 (Reuters) - U.S. drugstore chain operator Walgreen Co (NYSE: WAG - news) said it had appointed Barry Rosenstein of hedge fund Jana Partners to its board as the company moves to complete its takeover of drugstore chain Alliance Boots.

Rosenstein, Jana's founder and managing partner, will join Walgreen's board immediately and Jana will place a second director who will be mutually agreed by the company and the hedge fund, Walgreen said, without giving any specific reasons for the appointments.

Walgreen had come under pressure from investors including Jana to shift its tax domicile to Switzerland or Britain as part of the Alliance Boots deal, but the company last month rejected this following domestic criticism of such tax-cutting deals.

Jana and Walgreen had been engaged in discussion about steps the company could take to boost its shares, even as Walgreen rejected the idea of moving its tax domicile, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. (http://on.wsj.com/1rrXvRx)

"We are pleased to welcome Barry to the board in this pivotal moment for our company as we anticipate the completion of the Walgreens-Alliance Boots merger," James Skinner, chairman of Walgreen's board of directors, said in a statement.

Jana will work with Walgreen to cut costs and change the kind of products the drugstore chain stocks, and will also urge changes to its investment plans, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Walgreen representatives could not immediately be reached for further comment outside regular U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)