Alan Cohen

Alan Phillip Cohen (born October 5, 1954) is an American businessman, best known for his ownership of the Florida Panthers hockey team and his founding of several generic pharmaceutical companies, most notably the Davie, Florida-based Andrx Corp. Cohen.

For the former co-owner of the Boston Celtics and the New Jersey Nets, see Alan N. Cohen. For the American CEO, see Alan L. Cohen.
Alan Phillip Cohen
Born (1954-10-05) October 5, 1954
EducationUniversity of Florida
OccupationBusiness executive
Known forco-owner of the Florida Panthers
SpouseKaren Cohen

Biography

Cohen graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in pharmacy.[1]

In 1984, he founded the drug distribution firm Best Generics Inc.[2] and sold it to Florida's Ivax Corporation in 1988 for $10 million although he stayed as president until 1990. In 1992, he founded Andrx Pharmaceuticals Inc. as a private company. The new firm grew through the production of generic drugs when patents expired and drugs using the company's time-release technology. In 1996, the company went public at $12 and its stock eventually soared as high as $400 a share split adjusted. In August 2000, Cohen sold 500,000 shares of Andrx stock for $43 million with the stated goal of leaving the company and bankrolling the purchase of a professional sports team. Cohen's stock was worth around $700 million. He did not initially plan to leave Andrx until a successor was found to lead the firm, but he resigned that October, saying he was comfortable with the existing management. He stayed on briefly as a co-chairman of the board of directors. The company's stock fell in the years after his departure to as low as the $20-a-share range. In less than a year, Cohen said he missed the pharmaceutical business. In 2002, he created Abrika Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Sunrise, Florida, to develop and manufacture drug delivery systems such as skin patches and oral sprays. Four years later, he sold it for $235 million to Actavis Group, an international generic drug company in Iceland.

Florida Panthers

In June 2001, he led a consortium of local businessman (former quarterback Bernie Kosar; David Epstein, co-founder of Precision Response Corporation; Mike Maroone, president and chief operating officer of AutoNation, and his father Al Maroone, retired chairman of Maroone Auto Group; Jordan Zimmerman, CEO of Zimmerman Advertising; his brother, Steve Cohen, vice president of national sales for Andrx; and Elliot Hahn, Andrx president) in purchasing the Panthers from H. Wayne Huizenga's Boca Resorts Inc for $101 million.[3] Huizenga continued to own a minority interest in the franchise.[3] In 2009, Cohen sold the Panthers to Cliff Viner but maintained a minority interest.

Horse racing and breeding

Since 2003, he has been racing and breeding horses on his Arindel Farms in Ocala, Florida. Cohen's interest was sparked in his youth accompanying his father to racetracks in New York and spending summers as a young man betting on horses at the Calder racetrack. One of his horses, Wait A While, competed in a Breeder's Cup race at Churchill Downs in 2006. She went on to become United States Champion 3 year old filly in 2006.

Personal life

He and his wife, Karen,[1] live in Weston, Florida.[4] He is of Jewish descent.[2]

References
  1. "Championship Season". Ocala Style Magazine. May 14, 2007.
  2. Mendelsohn, Ezra (March 31, 2009). Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII. Oxford University Press. p. 98. ISBN 9780195382914.
  3. Talalay, Sarah (June 5, 2001). "Panthers Sold For $101 Million". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
  4. Alan Cohen - baltimoresun.com
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