Medical Device CEO Douglas W. Kohrs retires
at age 54.
His salary $2.6M while company (Tornier) did not profit for 3 years.
Tornier Appoints David H. Mowry as Interim
President and Chief Executive Officer
Posted 4:34PM 11/12/12
Tornier Appoints David H. Mowry as Interim
President and Chief Executive Officer
Medical Device Industry Veteran Kevin C. O'Boyle
Named Interim Vice Chairman
AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Tornier N.V. (NAS: TRNX) , a
global medical device company focused on providing surgical solutions to
orthopaedic extremity specialists, today announced the appointment of David H.
Mowry as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
Mr. Mowry succeeds Douglas W. Kohrs, who has retired as President, Chief Executive Officer and
Executive Director. Also effective immediately, Non-Executive Director, Kevin
C. O'Boyle was named Interim Vice Chairman to serve as a liaison between Mr.
Mowry and the Board.
Mr. Mowry, 50, will work with Mr. O'Boyle and Mr.
Kohrs to ensure a smooth and orderly transition as the Board of Directors
conducts a search for a permanent CEO.
Sean D. Carney, Chairman of Tornier, commented,
"On behalf of the company and the Board of Directors, I would like to
express our appreciation to Doug, for his leadership and contribution in
building the Tornier business over the past six years. Doug was instrumental in bringing
Tornier public, leading the recent acquisition of the OrthoHelix business and
expanding our international footprint, core capabilities and the innovation
pipeline."
Douglas W. Kohrs commented, "I have greatly
enjoyed my tenure with Tornier, and am proud to have had the opportunity to
work with a fantastic team in growing the company to be one of the most
prominent providers of orthopaedic solutions. I have great confidence in the
skills and talent of Dave and rest of the management team and their ability to
continue to execute on the strategy we have laid out together."
David H. Mowry, Interim President and Chief
Executive Officer of Tornier, commented, "I appreciate the opportunity to
accept this expanded role with the company. I look forward to working with the
Board and the talented management team in continuing to build the strong brand
and reputation we have established at Tornier over the past 70 years."
"As we look ahead to the next phase of
Tornier's growth, we are pleased Dave has agreed to take on additional
responsibility to lead the company with the rest of the management team,"
continued Mr. Carney. "Dave's experience in the industry and specifically
with Tornier provides confidence that he will continue to drive forward the
strategic growth plans we have been executing."
Mr. Mowry joined Tornier N.V. in July 2011 as
Chief Operating Officer. He brings to Tornier 23 years of medical device
industry experience in various engineering and management assignments. Prior to
Tornier, Mr. Mowry served as Senior Vice President and President of the
Neurovascular Division of Covidien plc, and in the same position with ev3 Inc.,
prior to its acquisition by Covidien. Mr. Mowry is a graduate of the United
States Military Academy in West Point, New York with a degree in Engineering.
As Interim Vice Chairman, Mr. O'Boyle will serve
as a liaison between the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer and the
Board. Mr. O'Boyle has served as a director of Tornier since June 2010. Since
December 2010, Mr. O'Boyle has served as Senior Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer of Advanced BioHealing Inc., a medical device company which
was acquired by Shire PLC in May 2011, and since June 2011 has served as Senior
Vice President of Business Operations. From January 2003 until December 2009,
Mr. O'Boyle served as the Chief Financial Officer of NuVasive, Inc. He
currently serves on the Board of GenMark Diagnostics, Inc., a molecular
diagnostics company. Mr. O'Boyle is a Certified Public Accountant and received
a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the Rochester Institute of
Technology and completed the Executive Management Program at the University of
California Los Angeles, John E. Anderson Graduate Business School.
Tornier is reiterating its previously issued
financial guidance for the remainder of 2012, which is contained in Tornier's
earnings release issued on November 5, 2012.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this release that relate
to future, not past, events are forward-looking statements under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are based on current expectations of future events and often can be
identified by words such as "expect," "should,"
"project," "anticipate," "intend,"
"will," "may," "believe," "could,"
"would," "continue," "outlook," "guidance,"
"future," other words of similar meaning or the use of future dates.
Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to
different degrees, uncertain. Uncertainties and risks may cause
Tornier's actual results to be materially different than those expressed in or
implied by Tornier's forward-looking statements. For Tornier, such
uncertainties and risks include, among others, Tornier's future operating
results and financial performance, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange
rates, the effect of global economic conditions, the European sovereign debt
crisis, and austerity measures, risks associated with Tornier's international
operations and expansion, risks associated with Tornier's recent acquisition of
OrthoHelix and the new credit facility agreement, the timing of regulatory
approvals and introduction of new products, physician acceptance, endorsement,
and use of new products; the effect of regulatory actions, changes in and
adoption of reimbursement rates, potential product recalls, competitor
activities, the effect of changes in Tornier's distribution channels and the
costs and effects of litigation, risks associated with Tornier's recent
management changes; and changes in tax and other legislation. More detailed
information on these and other factors that could affect Tornier's actual
results are described in Tornier's filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q.
Tornier undertakes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements.
About Tornier
Tornier is a global medical device company
focused on serving extremities specialists who treat orthopaedic conditions of
the shoulder, elbow,
wrist, hand, ankle and foot. The Company's broad offering of over 100 product
lines includes joint replacement, trauma, sports medicine, and ortho-biologic
products through Tornier and OrthoHelix brands to treat the extremities, as
well as joint replacement products for the hip and knee in certain
international markets. Since its founding approximately 70 years ago, Tornier's
"Specialists Serving
Specialists" philosophy has fostered a tradition of innovation,
intense focus on surgeon education, and commitment to advancement of
orthopaedic technology stemming from its close collaboration with orthopaedic surgeons and
thought leaders throughout the world. For more information regarding Tornier, visit
www.tornier.com, or
OrthoHelix, visit www.orthohelix.com.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/11/13/why-tornier-shares-tumbled.aspx
November 13, 2012 |
Although we
don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do
like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our
investing thesis.
What: Shares of medical-device maker Tornier
(Nasdaq: TRNX ) were getting tripped up today, falling
as much as 15% after a downgrade from Northland Securities.
So what: The downgrade, from "market perform" to
"underperform," came on the heels of yesterday's surprise
announcement that 54-year-old CEO Doug Kohrs was leaving the company.
"The
sudden nature of the announcement combined with the recent deceleration in
sales growth could raise questions 2013 outlook for the
company," Northland said.
Tornier has
missed EPS estimates in its last two quarters with a $0.29 loss in its most
recent quarter.
Now what: Countering Northland's opinion was
investment house Piper Jaffray, which reaffirmed its overweight rating on
Tornier today. Speculating about Kohrs' departure is unlikely to lead to any
sure answers, but investors may want to be reminded that Tornier has yet to turn a profit
in its three-year history, and with growth slowing this could be a
problem. Analysts are eyeing small losses for the next two quarters as well.
I'd wait for new CEO David Mowry to prove himself by getting the company into
positive territory before getting on board.
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2012/05/18/pay-tornier-kohrs.html
Minneapolis / St. Paul
Business Journal by Ed Stych, Web Producer
Date: Friday, May 18,
2012, 2:59pm CDT
Web Producer- Minneapolis / St. Paul
Business Journal
Now making more than $2.6
million
Tracking the pay of
Minnesota’s business leaders
Douglas Kohrs
CEO
Tornier Inc. (Nasdaq:
TRNX)
•
Headquarters:
Dutch company with U.S. headquarters in Edina
•
Business:
Makes orthopedics devices
Total pay
2011: $2.61 million, up
59 percent
2010:
$1.64 million
2009:
$1.25 million
Base salary
2011:
$503,000
2010:
$490,000
Bonus
2010:
None
Incentive pay
2011:
$209,000
2010:
$237,000
Stock awards
2011:
$830,000
2010:
None
Option awards
2011:
$1.07 million
2010:
$913,000
Other compensation
2011:
None
2010:
None
Total compensation for other highly-compensated executives:
Carmen Diersen, chief financial officer: $1.02 million, down 52 percent
David
Mowry, chief operating officer: $1.20 million (first year with company)
Stéphan Epinette, vice president of International Commercial Operations:
$932,000, up 12 percent
Kevin Klemz, chief legal officer: $739,000, down 27 percent
Notes
Ed Stych reports on Twin Cities breaking
business news for mspbj.com, manages online features and writes the Workshop
and Fast 50 Diary features for the print edition
http://ryortho.com/companyNews.php?news=2321_Tornier-CEO-Retires-Abruptly
Tornier CEO Retires Abruptly
Orthopedics This Week / Walter
Eisner • Wed, Nov 14th, 2012
It was a surprise retirement.
Tornier N.V. announced on November 12 that
the company's President and CEO, Doug Kohrs was retiring. David Mowry, the
company's chief operating officer was immediately named interim president and
CEO.
Kohrs was clearly the captain of this ship.
Sean Carney, the company's board chair noted Kohrs', "leadership and
contribution in building the Tornier business over the past six years. Doug was
instrumental in bringing Tornier public, leading the recent acquisition of the
OrthoHelix business and expanding our international footprint, core
capabilities and the innovation pipeline."
Why?
In the world of publicly traded companies,
retirements are usually well-orchestrated and telegraphed well ahead of time to
keep investors calm. So why didn't this happen with Kohrs and Tornier?
BMO Capital Markets analyst Joanne Wuensch
wrote that she was not a fan of this announcement, "particularly on the
heels of the departure of CFO Carmen L. Diersen in July 2012. We could
speculate that the departure is simply a personal decision (and take it at face
value), or take the view that after several missteps since its February 2011
IPO, it was time for new senior leadership. What we do not read into this
announcement is anything nefarious (the consulting agreement appears to imply
that they are departing on reasonably good terms)."
Bank of America analyst Bob Hopkins said that
his conversations with the company suggested that Kohrs did want to retire over
the course of the next 12-18 months. However he believes Kohrs departure was
probably hastened "due to [Tornier's] recent well-documented issues and
the lack of value creation since the IPO. Importantly, we do not believe any
new issues have arisen since last week's Q3 call, and Mr. Kohrs has signed a
six month consulting agreement with [Tornier] to help with the transition, and remains
one of the largest shareholders."
Kohrs, according to a company SEC filing,
will receive $2,500 per month for up to eight hours of consulting services per
month and will be compensated at a rate of $300 per hour for any additional
hours.
Mowry and O’Boyle Assume
Leadership
Mowry joined Tornier in July 2011 as chief
operating officer. He has 23 years of medical device industry experience in
various engineering and management assignments. Prior to Tornier, Mowry served
as senior vice president and president of the Neurovascular Division of
Covidien plc, and in the same position with ev3 Inc., prior to its acquisition
by Covidien. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy in West
Point, New York with a degree in engineering.
Kevin O'Boyle, the former chief financial
officer of NuVasive, Inc. and one of Tornier's non-executive board members was
named interim vice chairman to serve as a liaison between Mowry and the board.
Wuensch said that while the company clearly
has work to do, her thesis is that, with the distribution changes well under
way, and the OrthoHelix acquisition filling an important hole in the company's
extremity bag, the current strategy should accelerate the top-line growth rate
over the coming quarters.
While this "unnecessarily awkward
transition" creates as much risk as opportunity for the company, Hopkins
said he continues to see real long-term value in the franchise. He notes that
Kohrs, "leaves behind a strong bench; the Tornier brand remains strong;
their markets are healthy; Warburg [owner of 47% of Tornier] has a best in
class track record with management changes in their portfolio companies and
Tornier remains comfortable with 2012 guidance and with 2013 guidance that
calls for a return to double-digit top-line growth by midyear."
Kohrs' Record
Kohrs was CEO of American Medical Systems
Holdings, Inc.from 1995 to 2005 before turning that firm into a publicly-traded
company. Prior to that he co-founded Spine-Tech, Inc. which was later acquired
by Sulzer Medica A.G.
According to a July 2012 TwinCities
Business article, Kohrs left American Medical in 2006 to become
entrepreneur-in-residence at Split Rock Partners. That's when he convinced a
group of investors to buy the French family-owned Tornier. Tornier's sales have
grown from $100 million in revenues in 2006 to $261 million last year. When he
took over, Tornier sold 23 products in 15 European countries; today it sells
100 products in 45 countries worldwide, including Japan, China, Australia, and
Argentina. Headcount worldwide has jumped from 350 to 800.
Whether
Kohrs stays retired or continues his serial entrepreneurial track record is
unknown.
