Organizational Changes Designed to
Sustain Double-Digit Growth Rates, Advance Global Commercial Focus
and Further Transform Business Processes
Wright Medical Group N.V. (NASDAQ: WMGI) today announced
organizational changes to further drive the company's long-term
growth and profitability, which support its vision to be the first
choice in Extremities and Biologics.
Robert Palmisano, president and chief executive officer, stated,
“Wright Medical is quickly becoming a $1 billion high-growth
medtech company that is built to win in the fast-growing
Extremities and Biologics markets. As we continue to grow and
progress, there is a need to better align our team to support
long-term revenue growth, profitability and day-to-day
execution. At the same time, we must stay strategically
focused to maintain our technology differentiation and leadership
positions. It is with these goals in mind that I am creating
two new executive vice president positions, reporting to me, to
advance our global commercial focus and to further transform our
global business processes.”
The following organizational changes are effective
immediately:
Kevin Cordell, Wright’s current president,
U.S., is being promoted to the newly created position of executive
vice president, chief global commercial officer. Mr. Cordell
joined Wright in 2014 and has more than 25 years of experience as a
global medical technologies commercial leader with extensive
experience leading direct sales forces. During his tenure at
Wright, he was responsible for the successful integration of the
U.S. commercial teams following the Tornier merger and optimizing
the commercial sales and incentive structure in the U.S. upper and
lower extremities and biologics business to drive growth. Mr.
Cordell’s experience in market development and commercial
operations will be key as Wright further extends its leading
position in the U.S. Extremities and Biologics markets and focuses
on driving growth and penetration in International, particularly in
emerging markets. In this role, he will lead global
commercialization, including sales, marketing, product research and
development, surgeon education and clinical research. In
conjunction with Mr. Cordell’s new role, Peter Cooke, currently
president, international, will assume the role of president,
emerging markets, Australia and Japan, and Steve Wallace, currently
vice president of upper extremities marketing, will be promoted to
president, international. Both positions will report to Mr.
Cordell.
Lance Berry, Wright’s current senior vice
president and chief financial officer, is being promoted to the
newly created position of executive vice president, chief financial
and operations officer. Mr. Berry is a long-tenured,
proven Wright executive with more than 15 years of
industry experience, including extensive knowledge of the company’s
operations, systems and processes. During the last several
years, Mr. Berry has led several successful initiatives to improve
the company’s gross margin and reduce inventory, as well as lead
the divestiture and carve-out of the company’s hip and knee
business and the successful execution and integration of the
company's merger with Tornier. His position is critical as
the company focuses on further transforming and optimizing global
business operations and driving cost and process
improvements. In this role, he will be responsible for global
finance and accounting, operations, quality, regulatory,
information technology, strategy and corporate development.
Palmisano concluded, “With significant opportunities ahead,
these organizational changes will allow for further alignment of
our cross functional organizations with a stronger and sharper
focus on long-term growth and profitability, including a greater
emphasis on the emerging market opportunity. I am looking
forward to working with Kevin and Lance in their new leadership
roles and am confident that these appointments, along with our
other organizational changes, will further bolster our ability to
capitalize on the growth opportunities in front of us and
accelerate our market performance.”
Wright Medical to Present Today at J.P. Morgan
Healthcare Conference
Wright’s management will present today, January 7, 2019, at the
J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
A live audio webcast of the conference presentation and the Q&A
session, along with the accompanying presentation materials, will
be available on Wright’s corporate website at www.wright.com, under
the “Investors” link. The presentation materials, as well as
the reconciliations of its non-GAAP financial measures, will be
posted prior to the presentation as soon as practicable after the
issuance of this press release. The audio webcast and
accompanying presentation materials will be archived on this site
under the “Investor Presentations” link following the
conference.
Internet Posting of Information
Wright routinely posts information that may be important to
investors in the “Investor Relations” section of its website at
www.wright.com. The company encourages investors and
potential investors to consult the Wright website regularly for
important information about Wright.
About Wright Medical Group N.V.
Wright Medical Group N.V. is a global medical device company
focused on extremities and biologics products. The company is
committed to delivering innovative, value-added solutions improving
the quality of life for patients worldwide. Wright is a
recognized leader of surgical solutions for the upper extremities
(shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand), lower extremities (foot and
ankle) and biologics markets, three of the fastest growing segments
in orthopaedics. For more information about Wright, visit
www.wright.com.
™ and ® denote trademarks and registered trademarks of Wright
Medical Group N.V. or its affiliates, registered as indicated in
the United States, and in other countries. All other
trademarks and trade names referred to in this release are the
property of their respective owners.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This release includes forward-looking statements under the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use
of words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “could,” “may,” “will,”
“believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” “guidance,” “future,” other
words of similar meaning and the use of future dates.
Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not
limited to, statements about the company’s growth outlook and the
anticipated impact of the above-described organizational changes on
the company’s anticipated future financial performance.
Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that
are, to different degrees, uncertain. Each forward-looking
statement contained in this release is subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks
and uncertainties include, among others, failure to achieve the
anticipated benefits of the above-described organizational changes,
failure to achieve anticipated financial results, failure to
achieve the anticipated financial benefits of the recent Cartiva
acquisition, unanticipated clinical performance issues with Cartiva
products or the introduction of competitive products with clinical
performance attributes that are superior to Cartiva products,
failure to achieve wide market acceptance of the Cartiva products
due to clinical, regulatory, cost, reimbursement or other issues,
the failure of the company’s 2017 U.S. sales force additions to
achieve expected results, delay or failure to drive U.S. lower
extremities or biologics sales to anticipated levels; continued
supply constraints; failure to integrate the legacy Wright and
Tornier businesses and realize net sales synergies and cost savings
from the merger with Tornier or delay in realization thereof;
operating costs and business disruption as a result of the merger,
including adverse effects on employee retention and sales force
productivity and on business relationships with third parties;
integration costs; actual or contingent liabilities; adverse
effects of diverting resources and attention to providing
transition services to the purchaser of the large joints business;
the adequacy of the company’s capital resources and need for
additional financing; the timing of regulatory approvals and
introduction of new products; physician acceptance, endorsement,
and use of new products; failure to achieve the anticipated
commercial sales of our AUGMENT® Bone Graft and other new products;
the effect of regulatory actions, changes in and adoption of
reimbursement rates; product liability claims and product recalls;
pending and threatened litigation; risks associated with the
metal-on-metal master settlement agreement and the settlement
agreement with the three settling insurers; risks associated with
the subsequent metal-on-metal settlement agreements and ability to
obtain the additional new insurance proceeds; risks associated with
international operations and expansion; fluctuations in foreign
currency exchange rates; other business effects, including the
effects of industry, economic or political conditions outside of
the company’s control; reliance on independent distributors and
sales agencies; competitor activities; changes in tax and other
legislation; and the risks identified under the heading “Risk
Factors” in Wright’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2017 filed by Wright with the SEC on February 28, 2018
and subsequent SEC filings by Wright, including without limitation
its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September
30, 2018 filed with the SEC on November 8, 2018. Investors
should not place considerable reliance on the forward-looking
statements contained in this release. Investors are encouraged to
read Wright’s filings with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov, for a
discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The
forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the
date of this release, and Wright undertakes no obligation to update
or revise any of these statements. Wright’s business is subject to
substantial risks and uncertainties, including those referenced
above. Investors, potential investors, and others should give
careful consideration to these risks and uncertainties.
Investors & Media:
Julie D. DeweySr. Vice President, Chief Communications
OfficerWright Medical Group N.V.(901)
290-5817julie.dewey@wright.com
Wright Medical Group NV (NASDAQ:WMGI)
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