ARLINGTON, Tenn.--(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.