MINNEAPOLIS, June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- AGA Medical Holdings, Inc. (“AGA Medical” or “AGA”) announced today a transition of responsibilities in its senior management team.
Franck Gougeon has decided to transition from his day-to-day role as President and CEO of AGA to focus his efforts on strategic planning for AGA’s future. Mr. Gougeon will remain a member of the AGA’s Board of Directors and will Chair a newly formed committee of the Board, the Corporate Development Committee. The Committee has been chartered to focus on AGA’s long-range strategies in a number of areas, including product development and planning and AGA strategic human resource planning and development.
Tommy Thompson, Chairman of the Board for AGA, commented, “Franck Gougeon has played a critical role in the development of AGA. Under his leadership, the Company has expanded operations and now sells in over 100 countries. His close work with Dr. Amplatz, a co-founder of AGA Medical along with Franck, has enabled the company to build a reputation for innovation in the field of minimally invasive repair of structural heart defects.”
Mr. Thompson continued, “In his new role, Franck will continue to work closely with Dr. Amplatz on new product development and will help develop a longer-term vision for the company. He has developed relationships with leading cardiologists around the world, and we plan to work with Franck to leverage those relationships on AGA’s behalf. I have enjoyed working with Franck in his role as AGA’s CEO, and I look forward to our continued relationship as he moves into this important new role. I anticipate that AGA and the Board will continue to benefit greatly from his experience and leadership in these key areas.”
Franck Gougeon co-founded AGA with Dr. Kurt Amplatz in 1995. He was named President and CEO in July 2005 following a successful recapitalization and investment in the company by Welsh Carson Anderson and Stowe. Under Mr. Gougeon’s stewardship, the Company has grown to approximately $150 million in revenue in 2007 and over 300 employees with direct operations overseas in 9 countries and offices in Birmingham, UK, Frankfurt, Germany and Madrid, Spain. Mr. Gougeon continues to be a major shareholder in AGA.
John Barr, who has served as Chief Operating Officer of AGA since September 2005 under Franck Gougeon, has been named President and CEO of AGA.
Franck Gougeon commented, “John and I have worked closely in the past few years to build the Company and strengthen the management team. He is the right person to take this company forward, and I look forward to working with him on a smooth and effective transition and in my new role with AGA. I also look forward to continuing my work with Dr. Amplatz and AGA to develop and commercialize innovative devices to treat both structural heart and vascular defects.”
Mr. Barr’s prior experience includes serving as CEO of V.I. Technologies, a development stage company, President of North American Operations and a member of the Board of Directors for Haemonetics Corporation and in a variety of roles at Baxter Healthcare. Mr. Barr has a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
ABOUT AGA MEDICAL: AGA Medical, based in Plymouth, Minnesota (just outside Minneapolis) is a leader in developing interventional devices to treat structural heart defects. As a result of the many contributions and creative genius of Dr. Kurt Amplatz, AGA develops and commercializes a series of devices that have revolutionized the treatment of the most common congenital “holes in the heart” such as atrial septal and patent foramen ovale defects. The company is expanding into new areas such as the minimally invasive repair of vascular abnormalities. More than 800 articles have been published in medical publications that support the benefits of AGA devices, including improved patient outcomes, reduced length of stay and accelerated recovery times for the patient. AGA l devices have received regulatory approval and are marketed in 101 countries. For more information visit www.amplatzer.com.
CONTACT: Jake Sargent of Brunswick Group LLC, +1-202-393-7337, or
jsargent@brunswickgroup.com, for AGA Medical Holdings, Inc.
Web site: http://www.amplatzer.com/
