ZOLL Shakes Up its Management Team

ZOLL Medical Corporation, an Asahi Kasei Group Company that manufactures medical devices and related software solutions, announced that effective April 1, CEO Richard A. Packer will assume a new role within Asahi Kasei leading the global Health Care Business Unit (HCBU); Jonathan A. Rennert, currently president of ZOLL’s resuscitation business, will become CEO of ZOLL, and A. Ernest Whiton, now senior vice president of International Operations, will replace Rennert as president of ZOLL’s resuscitation business.

All three executives have distinguished themselves in the four years since ZOLL became part of Asahi Kasei, according to ZOLL management. During that time, ZOLL has more than doubled in size, reaching more than $1 billion in fiscal year 2014 (April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2015); expanded its business portfolio with a number of new and complementary products; and positioned its businesses for continued growth.

In Packer’s new role as a primary executive officer of Asahi Kasei Corporation, he will help build the healthcare businesses into a third pillar of the Asahi Kasei Group. The HCBU will consist of Asahi Kasei Pharma, Asahi Kasei Medical, ZOLL, and future global healthcare companies. Packer will also serve as the non-executive chairman of ZOLL.

Packer joined ZOLL in 1992, and was appointed president in 1995. He was appointed CEO in 1999. He has a master’s degree from the Harvard Business School, as well as engineering degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Since joining ZOLL in 2008 as president, Rennert has led the company to become the global leader in external defibrillation, has diversified the product portfolio through the addition of transport ventilators and intrathoracic pressure regulation (IPR) therapy, and has overseen the establishment of Asahi Kasei ZOLL Medical, ZOLL’s Japanese subsidiary.

Prior to joining ZOLL, Rennert led the analytical instruments business at PerkinElmer Inc., and earlier in his career held manufacturing and engineering leadership positions with United Technologies and General Electric. Rennert holds master’s degrees in management and mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University.

During the three years Whiton has served as senior vice president of International Operations, ZOLL’s international resuscitation business has increased by more than 50 percent. During the previous 15 years between 1998 and 2013, he served as chief financial officer and vice president of Administration, playing an instrumental role in shaping the company’s mission and strategy. This led to significant company growth in revenue while ZOLL was listed on the NASDAQ, prior to ZOLL’s acquisition by Asahi Kasei in April 2012, executives noted.

Prior to joining ZOLL, Whiton was vice president and chief accounting officer of Ionics Inc., a global separations technology company, which he joined in 1993. Earlier, he was a manager at Price Waterhouse. Whiton has a master’s degree from the Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Bentley College.

ZOLL Medical Corporation, an Asahi Kasei Group Company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions. With products for defibrillation and monitoring, circulation and CPR feedback, data management, therapeutic temperature management, and ventilation, ZOLL provides technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, and lay rescuers treat victims needing resuscitation and acute critical care.

The Asahi Kasei Group is a diversified group of companies led by holding company Asahi Kasei Corp., with operations in the chemicals and fibers, homes and construction materials, electronics, and healthcare business sectors. Its healthcare operations include devices and systems for acute critical care, dialysis, therapeutic apheresis, transfusion, and manufacture of biotherapeutics, as well as pharmaceuticals, diagnostic reagents, and nutritional products. With more than 30,000 employees around the world, the Asahi Kasei Group serves customers in more than 100 countries.