Alliance Boots' former group legal counsel and chief administrative officer Marco Pagni has been made global chief legal and administrative officer of the recently merged Walgreens Boots Alliance.

The business, formed through the merger of Walgreens and Alliance Boots in December, has also given Pagni an executive vice president role. He will oversee all of Walgreens Boots Alliance's legal affairs, including strategic issues and M&A matters, working with acting chief executive Stefano Pessina.

Pagni first joined Alliance Boots as general counsel and company secretary in 2003, before assuming the role of group legal counsel and chief administrative officer in 2007.

Walgreens' former general counsel and corporate vice president Jan Stern Reed has been appointed to the general counsel role at the newly merged company, and will assume the additional titles of senior vice president and corporate secretary.

Reed, who joined Walgreens in 2013 as corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, will continue serving as general counsel for Walgreen Co.

In a statement, Pessina said: "As colleagues who have collaborated closely for more than a decade, I look forward to continuing to count not only on Marco's unmatched experience and expertise in both the global legal and corporate administrative areas, but also his keen strategic business sense in driving growth and value."

"With the support of Jan Reed in her new leadership and senior advisory role for the global enterprise as general counsel and corporate secretary, I have every confidence that Marco and the rest of his team will play a leading role in the ongoing development and success of Walgreens Boots Alliance."