SAN ANTONIO--()--The Board of Directors of the parent company of Kinetic Concepts, Inc. and LifeCell Corporation today announced that Ronald A. Matricaria has joined the Board of Directors and will serve as its Chairman. Matricaria will oversee the implementation of a new management structure under which Joseph F. Woody has been appointed President and Chief Executive officer of KCI and Lisa N. Colleran has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of LifeCell. Martin J. Landon, who served as interim Chief Executive Officer during the recent management transition, will continue in his capacity as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of KCI. In addition, the Board of Directors announced that KCI will pursue strategic alternatives for KCI’s Therapeutic Support Systems business.
The structure and plans announced today are designed to strengthen the companies’ performance and deliver stronger returns while ensuring that KCI and LifeCell remain recognized leaders in the fields of wound care and regenerative medicine. KCI and LifeCell are privately-held sister corporations owned by a consortium consisting of Apax Partners and controlled affiliates of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. Going forward, KCI and LifeCell financial reporting will remain consolidated, while the companies will be managed independently under the new structure. KCI will continue to provide inter-company services and compliance oversight to LifeCell.
Ron Matricaria’s highly successful career in the healthcare industry has spanned nearly four decades. From 1993 to 2002, Matricaria was President and Chief Executive Officer and then Chairman of St. Jude Medical, Inc. He led the company's diversification strategy to become a broad-based cardiovascular device company, which today is a world market leader in cardiac surgery, cardiac rhythm management, and vascular closure products and services. Prior to joining St. Jude Medical, Matricaria spent 24 years at Eli Lilly and Company, where he last served as President of North American Operations and Executive Vice President of the pharmaceutical division. Matricaria currently serves as Lead Director of the Board of Directors of LIFE Technology Corporation, Chairman of the Board of Volcano Therapeutics, Inc. and as a director on the Board of Directors of Phoenix Children's Hospital. He also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at Northwestern University's Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
“Ron Matricaria has a proven track record of success in the medical device industry and a wealth of experience in the corporate governance of health care companies,” said Buddy Gumina, Partner and co-head of the Apax Healthcare Team. “We believe that bringing Ron on as Chairman, together with the appointment of Joe Woody and Lisa Colleran to the CEO roles at KCI and LifeCell, creates the ideal environment for outstanding success.”
Woody has more than 20 years experience in the healthcare sector. Prior to joining KCI as President of its Active Healing Solutions business in November 2011, Woody served as Global President, Vascular Therapies for Covidien. At Covidien, he was responsible for the $2.6 billion acquisition and integration of ev3. Previously, Woody served as Global President, Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Management and held other leadership positions at Alliance Imaging, Inc., Acuson and GE Medical Systems.
Colleran has been President of LifeCell since 2008, during which time LifeCell has experienced significant growth and doubled its revenue. Colleran joined LifeCell in 2002 and has held several leadership positions including Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and Vice President, Marketing and Business Development. Previously, Colleran spent 20 years at Baxter Healthcare Corporation in various roles in sales, marketing, business development and general management including Vice President of Marketing for Baxter’s U.S. Renal business and Vice President/General Manager of the company’s Renal Pharmaceuticals business.
Coinciding with the changes in the management structure of KCI and LifeCell, the Board of Directors has approved the engagement of Credit Suisse as lead advisor, together with UBS Investment Bank, to pursue strategic alternatives for KCI’s Therapeutic Support Systems (TSS) business. KCI’s TSS business, a global leader in the support surfaces market, rents and sells specialized therapeutic support systems including hospital beds, mattress replacement systems, overlays and patient mobility devices. There can be no assurance that any transaction regarding TSS will be completed. KCI does not intend to disclose developments with respect to progress of its strategic alternatives review process until such time as the Board of Directors approves or completes a transaction or otherwise determines that further disclosure is appropriate.
“Our TSS business has enjoyed many successes over more than 35 years, and we believe that the value TSS brings to caregivers and patients can be enhanced through a transformative strategic transaction,” said Stephen D. Seidel, President, KCI Therapeutic Support Systems.
About KCI
Kinetic Concepts, Inc. is a leading global medical technology company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of innovative, high-technology therapies and products for the wound care and therapeutic support system markets. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, KCI's success spans more than three decades and can be traced to a history deeply rooted in innovation and a passion for significantly improving the healing and the lives of patients around the world. For more information about KCI and how its products are changing the practice of medicine, please visit www.KCI1.com.
About LifeCell
LifeCell Corporation, based in Branchburg, NJ, is a leader in regenerative medicine, develops and markets innovative tissue repair products for the reconstructive, orthopedic and urogynecologic biosurgery markets. LifeCell™ products include Strattice™ Reconstructive Tissue Matrix and AlloDerm® Regenerative Tissue Matrix for plastic, reconstructive, and general surgical applications; Cymetra® Regenerative Tissue Matrix, a particulate form of AlloDerm® Tissue Matrix suitable for injection; Repliform® Regenerative Tissue Matrix for urogynecologic surgical procedures; GraftJacket® and Conexa™ for orthopedic surgical procedures; and the SPY® Elite System for the visualization and evaluation of tissue perfusion. Additional information about LifeCell and its products is available at www.LifeCell.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements are only predictions, not historical facts, and involve significant risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions and are not guarantees of future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Actual results, levels of activity, performance, achievements and events could differ materially from those currently stated, anticipated or implied due to a number of risks and uncertainties. Important assumptions and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are specified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, including under headings such as "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and in other filings and furnishings made by the Company with the SEC from time to time. Except to the extent required by applicable federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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