EuroFinance

While most corporations view treasury as a liquidity steward, Teva Pharmaceuticals—operating across 60+ countries with $16.5 billion in sales and serving more than 200 million patients every day—has redefined it as a global benchmark for enterprise transformation. Its treasury function now drives growth, resilience, and ESG impact, setting new standards for how finance can lead from within.

Through disciplined cash culture, cross-functional ownership, and data transparency, Teva’s treasury drove a cross functional effort that to date unlocked over $1.5 billion in cash, achieved five credit rating upgrades within 1 year.

This transformation earned Teva the title of Cash Champion at the EuroFinance Treasury Excellence Awards 2025. As Michael Ben Moshe, VP Treasury and head of global working capital and cash optimisation, explained: “Our vision was to evolve treasury from a traditional banking, risk management, and funding unit into a strategic partner directly enabling growth through cash excellence and surgical capital allocation across all our operations.”

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From debt burden to enterprise transformation

What began as a deleveraging journey evolved into a cultural transformation. Following a major M&A transaction that left Teva highly leveraged, treasury’s focus shifted from executing strategy to shaping it — integrating cash and liquidity thinking into commercial, supply chain and procurement decisions.

Initially, with low interest rates and limited operational leverage, treasury focused on off-balance-sheet instruments, in-house bank optimisation, and global cash pooling. But three years ago, with the launch of Teva’s “Pivot to Growth” strategy by CEO Richard Francis, and amid rising interest rates and financing costs, treasury—under CFO Eli Kalif—began collaborating more closely with business units.

“We moved from supporting operations to actively shaping them in some cases,” said Ben Moshe. “Comprehensive cash forecasting and alignment of financial practices with commercial and operational activities became central to our mission. While continuing our traditional roles in refinancing, risk management, and liquidity, we expanded our scope to drive major improvements in organic working capital and processes that contribute to cash generation.”

Making business units own cash

One of the greatest challenges was cultural.

“Changing the mindset that cash management was solely treasury’s responsibility to one where business units owned cash flow as they do P&L was transformative,” said Ben Moshe.

Treasury proactively joined operational discussions, illustrating how business decisions impacted free cash flow and capital allocation—especially during periods of close market scrutiny. “Our goal was to empower every manager to take ownership of cash outcomes, “ he added.

Teva’s leadership provided strong support by embedding cash into the business agenda.

“Our CEO and CFO championed the cash agenda, integrating cash targets into employee bonuses to emphasise shared responsibility,” said Ben Moshe. “We conducted extensive roadshows to embed Teva’s cash discipline and transparency culture.”

Treasury also gained a seat at key operational forums, including global Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and Procurement management forums, ensuring cash considerations influenced planning and decisions. Weekly forecasting and scorecards reinforced accountability.

“Business unit leaders now review cash flow with the same rigor as earnings,” Ben Moshe noted.

Institutionalising the change – the working capital center of excellence

To sustain and scale these efforts, Teva established the Working Capital and Cash Optimisation Center of Excellence (WCCO).

“Working capital spans sales, supply chain, procurement—it’s not a project, it’s a permanent enterprise capability,” said Ben Moshe. “The WCCO connects operations, finance, and technology into one ecosystem, making cash an outcome of smart business design, not just financial control.”

A team of senior O2C, P2P, F2F, and IT specialists was recruited to complement treasury professionals. These experts led targeted improvement initiatives, system implementations, and cash culture development, Ben Moshe added.

“They translated operational terminology into cash management language, fostering stronger connections and shared expertise across the organization,” he explained.

Cash and working capital

The results were tangible. “Supplier terms harmonisation, supply chain financing, inventory optimisation, receivables discipline, and data-driven monitoring enabled Teva to unlock substantial cash,” said Ben Moshe. “Instead of focusing solely on cash flow forecast accuracy we shaped the cash flow forecast by controlling and managing business processes before they get into the invoice and cash forecasting cycle. We simply tried to connect sales to collections, to inventory build ups while protecting our commercial terms and enhancing our financial solutions.

A standout initiative was Teva’s ESG-linked supply chain financing program.

“We have 2 different programs that are designed to enhance liquidity, strengthen supplier partnerships, and advance ESG performance,” he said. “Suppliers accessed early payments at competitive rates, with better terms linked to their ESG ratings.”

This improved supplier health and Teva’s Days Payable Outstanding. “We trained procurement teams and suppliers, involving finance representatives from supplier organizations to drive adoption and foster long-term partnerships,” Ben Moshe added. “Those programs are growing exponentially and have won many awards for being so effective and supportive to our suppliers”.

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From balance sheet to credit rating upgrades

Working capital improvements translated directly into balance sheet strength.

“In 2 years, we reduced Net Working Capital as a percentage of sales from 16% to 4%, and shortened our cash conversion cycle by 60 days,” said Ben Moshe. “Unlocking over $1.5 billion enabled direct debt reduction, lowering net leverage and boosting free cash flow.”

The impact was externally recognised. “These improvements, alongside broader strategic initiatives, contributed to five credit rating upgrades in one year,” he noted. “Rating agencies saw something rare: a company achieving growth while maintaining a leaner balance sheet. At Teva, higher sales are achieved with less capital tied up in operations—reflecting our focus on cash and efficiency.”

Data, transparency and the next frontier

Technology was central to sustaining the transformation. “Real-time analytics and transparency are transforming how cash is managed across Teva,” said Ben Moshe.

Teva’s internally developed Working Capital Cockpit integrates all cycles—P2P, O2C, F2F—eliminating knowledge gaps, enabling peer comparison, and triggering swift action when targets are missed.

Looking ahead, Teva is preparing for AI-driven analytics. “AI will scan large datasets to detect policy deviations, forecast gaps, and opportunities for improvement,” he explained. “Our systems will help sustain gains that could otherwise fade without ongoing focus.”

Teva is emerging as a leader in this space, with positive feedback from systems vendors, multinational peers, and now EuroFinance. “Treasury’s role will continue to expand as technology accelerates transparency and decision-making,” Ben Moshe concluded.

Lessons learned

Asked what he might change, Ben Moshe is reflective – “If given the opportunity, I would integrate treasury earlier and more deeply into strategic planning—before financial targets or short-term forecasts are even defined—so we can shape up the process cash effectively rather than fix it in retrospect,” he said. “Success requires treasury to drive process and behavioral change, which demands deep business insight, organisational influence, and cross-functional collaboration.”

For Teva, treasury has become more than a financial steward—it is a catalyst for growth and resilience.

“Our transformation was only possible thanks to the collective effort of Teva’s leadership, business unit heads, finance and treasury teams, and our cross-functional partners,” Ben Moshe concluded. “Their openness to change, commitment to excellence, and shared ownership of cash outcomes were the true drivers behind our success”

“Although this is formally a treasury award, it is important to recognize the contributions of our Procurement, Supply Chain, Commercial, IT, R&D, and many other teams across the organisation. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and hard work and building on the relationships we have created to further optimize our Working Capital and execute on our “Pivot to Growth” for the benefit of our patients and stakeholders. “

“At Teva, we see the next chapter as integrating AI, sustainability, and resilience into one holistic cash ecosystem—setting a global benchmark for finance leadership”, Ben Moshe added.

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