ARLINGTON, Tenn., Oct 18, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Wright Medical Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WMGI), a global orthopaedic medical
device company and a leading provider of surgical solutions for the foot
and ankle market, today announced that Julie D. Tracy has been named
Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, effective
immediately.
Ms. Tracy has more than 25 years of experience in the medical device
industry in investor relations, corporate communications and marketing.
She most recently served as Chief Communications Officer for Epocrates,
Inc. Prior to Epocrates, Ms. Tracy was Senior Vice President and Chief
Communications Officer for ev3 Inc., where she built a world-class
investor relations program that was the highest ranked small cap medical
device IR program by Institutional Investor in 2009 and 2010. Prior to
ev3, Ms. Tracy held marketing and investor relations positions at Kyphon
Inc. and Thoratec Corporation.
"Julie has a tremendous depth of experience in all areas of investor
relations and corporate communications and has earned an outstanding
reputation within the investment community," said Robert Palmisano,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Wright Medical. "She'll be
instrumental in building upon the strong relationships we currently have
with the investor and analyst communities, and we are delighted to
welcome her to the team."
Ms. Tracy holds a B.S. degree in business administration from the
University of Southern California and received her MBA from Pepperdine
University in Los Angeles. She is a member of the National Investor
Relations Institute's Senior Roundtable.
Wright also announced today that in connection with Ms. Tracy's
appointment as Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer,
and as an inducement to her employment with Wright, the Compensation
Committee of its Board of Directors approved the grant of a stock option
to Ms. Tracy to be made on October 17, 2011, to purchase up to 30,000
shares of Wright's common stock at an exercise price of $18.33, which
was the closing price of Wright's common stock on the day prior to
grant. The stock option vests and becomes exercisable in four equal,
annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the grant,
conditioned on Ms. Tracy's continued employment. The stock option has a
ten year term and is subject to the terms and conditions of the stock
option agreement pursuant to which the option was granted.
This press release is being made in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule
5635(c)(4).
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined
under U.S. federal securities laws. These statements reflect
management's current knowledge, assumptions, beliefs, estimates, and
expectations and express management's current views of future
performance, results, and trends and may be identified by their use of
terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect,"
"intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "will," and other similar
terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause our actual results to materially differ
from those described in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and
uncertainties include those discussed in our filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (including those described in Item 1A of our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, and our
subsequently filed quarterly reports, under the heading, "Risk
Factors"). Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Such statements are made as of the date of this press
release, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements after
this date.
Wright Medical Group, Inc. is a global orthopaedic medical device
company specializing in the design, manufacture and marketing of devices
and biologic products for the extremity, hip and knee repair and
reconstruction. Wright Medical is a leading provider of surgical
solutions for the foot and ankle market. Wright Medical has been in
business for more than 60 years and markets its products in over 60
countries worldwide. For more information about Wright Medical, visit
its website at www.wmt.com.
SOURCE: Wright Medical Group, Inc.
Wright Medical Group, Inc.
Lance Berry, 901-867-4607
