Dive Brief:
- Teleflex has parted ways with CEO Liam Kelly and is putting a retired board member in charge of the company on an interim basis.
- The company, which disclosed the changes Thursday, framed the changes as part of the transformation triggered by recent deals to sell three units for about $2 billion.
- Teleflex reported the leadership changes alongside a 1% reduction in the midpoint of its full-year guidance range. The company blamed the revised forecast on soft demand for heart devices.
Dive Insight:
Kelly took over as CEO at the start of 2018 as part of a well-telegraphed succession plan. Kelly rose through the ranks at Teleflex, joining the company in 2009 and becoming chief operating officer in 2015.
The Teleflex veteran has left the company without a permanent successor. Teleflex has made Stuart Randle, a board member, interim president and CEO, effective immediately. Stephen Klasko, the company’s lead director, has replaced Kelly as chairman of the board.
Randle retired in 2018 after three years as CEO of Ivenix, a company that sells infusion delivery systems. Earlier in his career, Randle spent 10 years as president and CEO of GI Dynamics. The company, which rebranded as Morphic Medical in 2023, developed a medical device to treat diabetes and obesity. Randle has served on Teleflex’s board since 2009.
Teleflex will pay Randle $140,000 per month as interim president and CEO while it looks for a permanent replacement to Kelly. Randle’s tenure will cover a period in which Teleflex will work to close deals that it disclosed in December. Teleflex is aiming to close the $1.5 billion sale of its OEM business and the $530 million sale of its acute care and interventional urology units in the second half of the year.
The divestitures will leave Teleflex focused on its vascular access, interventional and surgical businesses. Klasko said in a statement that Teleflex’s board determined that given the company’s evolution into a “more focused, higher-growth organization” it is the right time to change CEO.
Teleflex said it expects revenue for 2025 to be $3.27 billion to about $3.28 billion, compared to its previous guidance of about $3.31 billion to $3.32 billion. The company said the reduction, which is just over 1% at the midpoint, reflects softer-than-expected demand for intra-aortic balloon pumps and catheters in the U.S. and Asia, and delays in purchase orders in the OEM business.
