Valeant's new chief cuts a familiar figure

New York

WHEN a deeply troubled company replaces its chief executive, it makes sense to expect the new CEO to bring a fresh take to its operations. A clean sweep, so to speak.

But if shareholders in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International envisage a vastly different approach by Joseph Papa, the company's incoming chief executive, they may be disappointed. That's because in the almost 10 years that Mr Papa headed Perrigo Co, a maker and distributor of over-the-counter and generic prescription drugs, the company pursued a series of strategies that were very Valeant-esque.

They include a merger with a foreign company that allowed Perrigo to slash i…