

Kinetic Concepts Inc. (NYSE:KCI) CEO Catherine Burzik, who shepherded the wound care giant through a $6.1 billion leveraged buyout by an Apax Partners-led consortium, plans to step down about 6 months ahead of schedule.
Burzik, who stands to make about $36 million from the deal, was slated to leave in mid-2012 after helping with the succession to new leadership. That having been achieved “in an accelerated timeframe,” according to a press release, the 61-year old and KCI are ready to part ways.
CFO Martin Landon was tapped to step in as interim CEO, according to the release.
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“I have every confidence that KCI’s legacy of delivering life-enhancing products and therapies to patients and caregivers, as well as outstanding returns to investors, will continue well into the future,” Burzik said in prepared remarks. “I will leave KCI with a great deal of pride and honor to have been part of a company with so many outstanding professionals who never waver from their commitment to the medical community, to patients and to one another.”
Apax and a pair of Canadian pension funds closed the $68.50-per-share LBO in November. Landon and the remaining executive team put some skin in the game a day before the deal closed, when the transition plan was first announced Nov. 3.
Under Burzik’s watch, KCI weathered a series of hiccups on the way to closing the buyout, including an ill-fated, 11th-hour offer from rival ConvaTec and altered terms spurred by the European debt crisis. There’s no public word yet on her professional plans for the future.