And... another article from the
Philadelphia Business Journal:
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After long history with Teleflex, CEO Black resignsPhiladelphia Business Journal - by Natalie Kostelni, Staff Writer
Date: Monday, January 31, 2011, 1:22pm ESTThe head of
Teleflex Inc. has unexpectedly resigned, and has been replaced by a one of the company's directors.
Jeffrey P. Black, 51, resigned by "mutual agreement" with the company from his posts of chairman, president and chief executive officer as well as from the board of directors.
Black was replaced with
Benson F. Smith, who will serve as Teleflex's chairman, president and CEO. Smith, 63, has been a director of Teleflex since 2005 and currently serves as chair of the compensation committee. Smith is the managing partner for Sales Research Group, a research and consulting organization. Since 2000, Smith has also been the CEO of BFS & Associates, which specializes in strategic planning and venture investing.
Black's departure came as a surprise since he and his family have a very long history with Teleflex. His father, Lennox Black, was chairman of the board beginning in 1982 and served as its president and CEO for 47 years beginning in 1971.
During Lennox Black's tenure, Teleflex grew significantly from a small niche player in the aerospace market to a diversified global company serving medical, aerospace, marine, industrial and automotive markets. In 1971, when he became president and CEO, Teleflex had annual revenues of $25 million and operations in three countries. When he left, it had $2.5 billion in annual revenues.
The elder Black retired in May 2006. The younger Black was appointed president in 2000 and CEO in 2002. He was given the title of chairman in 2006 when his father retired. He was initially appointed to the board in 2002. Jeffrey Black held various senior positions for more than two decades with the Limerick, Pa., company before taking the helm.
Teleflex (NYSE:TFX) has changed since the younger Black took over. It has spun off and sold many of its companies and focused on medical technology and devices.
It has more than 12,000 employees and had $1.9 billion in revenue in 2009.
In connection with Jeffrey Black's resignation, the board has determined to reduce the size of the board by one director rather than fill the vacancy created by his departure. He will receive $5.4 million cash as severance that will be paid over three years plus other benefits.
Smith worked for C.R. Bard Inc., a company specializing in medical devices, for approximately 25 years, where he held other executive and senior level positions. He sits on the boards of Rochester Medical Corp. and Zoll Medical Corp.
In a conference call this morning,
Bill Cook, a director, said the company had ongoing discussions about "the next logical step" in leadership to manage the company now that it has made the transition to focusing on medical and health related devices. The board had plans to bring in someone from the health-care industry.
"We felt this was the time," Cook said, earlier adding that: "Bensen is uniquely qualified for the job."
By bringing someone in internally, the company will go through a seamless transition, Cook said, and "Bensen can hit the ground running."
The call didn't answer all of the questions about why Black will leave the company entirely, or exactly why the time was now to appoint someone new.
© 2011 American City Business Journals, Inc.