KCI Announces New Management Structure

There’s a new management team in place at Kinetic Concepts Inc.

Ronald A. Matricaria has joined the board of directors as chairman. Matricaria will oversee the implementation of a new management structure under which Joseph F. Woody will serve as president and CEO of KCI and Lisa N. Colleran serve as president and CEO of LifeCell (which was acquired by KCI in 2008). Martin J. Landon, who served as interim CEO during the recent management transition, will remain as executive vice president and chief financial officer of KCI.

In addition, KCI executives said the company will pursue strategic alternatives for KCI’s Therapeutic Support Systems business.

The restructure is designed to strengthen both 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 healthcare career has spanned nearly four decades. From 1993 to 2002, Matricaria was president, CEO and then chairman of St. Jude Medical Inc. He led the company’s diversification strategy to become a broad-based cardiovascular device firm. Before he joined 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 its pharmaceutical division. Matricaria currently serves as lead director of LIFE Technology Corporation’s Board of Directors, board chairman of Volcano Therapeutics, Inc. and as a board director for Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He also serves as an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University’s Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Evanston, Ill.

“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. “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. Before joining KCI as president of its Active Healing Solutions business in November 2011, Woody served as global president, Vascular Therapies, for Covidien. There, he was responsible for the $2.6 billion acquisition and integration of ev3. Previously, Woody served as global president at Smith & Nephew plc’s Advanced Wound Management division and held leadership positions at Alliance Imaging Inc. (a provider of advanced outpatient diagnostic imaging services in the United States), Acuson (a manufacturer and service provider of diagnostic medical ultrasound systems, which is now part of Siemens) 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, and 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 rents and sells specialized therapeutic support systems including hospital beds, mattress replacement systems, overlays and patient mobility devices.

“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.