Medtronic, Inc. Loses International President to Competitor

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal by Ed Stych, Web Producer

Medtronic Inc. has lost the president of its international operations, as Jean-Luc Butel has taken a similar position with competitor Baxter International Inc.

Butel, 55, will report to Baxter CEO Robert Parkinson Jr. and will start his new job as president of international operations on Feb. 20, according to a Baxter news release.

Parkinson said in a statement that Butel’s international experience will help Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter (NYSE: BAX) in its goal to expand into countries outside the United States.

It’s the second time in a month that Baxter has dipped into Minnesota’s med-tech community. In mid-December, it said it was buying St. Paul-based Synovis Life Technologies for $325 million.

Baxter makes products for people with hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases and kidney disease.

Fridley-based Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday that Butel had resigned effective Jan. 20 and is “not entitled to any benefits upon his departure other than those benefits that rate offered to all company employees.”

Medtronic paid Butel $3.7 million in fiscal 2011, according to SEC documents filed in July.

Butel joined Medtronic in 2003 and most recently was the med-tech company’s international president. Before joining Medtronic, he served 13 years with Johnson & Johnson and eight years with Becton, Dickinson & Co.

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