ConMed (NSDQ:CNMD) reached a deal with an institutional investor that owns a 6% stake in the medical device company that will see founder Eugene Corasanti step down as chairman, effective immediately.
Utica, N.Y.-based ConMed said the deal it struck with Coppersmith Capital Management calls for lead independent director Mark Tryniski to immediately succeed Corasanti, who founded the company in 1970 and led it until passing the reins to son Joseph Corasanti in 2006.
The elder Corasanti will not seek reelection to the board at the company’s annual meeting this year, according to a press release. ConMed said it also agreed to expand the board temporarily from 9 members to 11, naming Coppersmith managing partner Jerome Lande and former Stryker (NYSE:SYK) CFO Curtis Hartmann as directors effective March 1.
The board will shrink to 10 members after the shareholders’ meeting this year, according to the release, when members Bruce Daniels and Stuart Schwartz are slated to step aside.
Coppersmith, which picked up a 5.9% stake in ConMed Jan. 27, agreed to support the company’s other nominees for the board at the upcoming shareholder’s meeting, including a 3rd as-yet-unnamed nominee, according to the release.
ConMed had been embroiled in a proxy war with another investor, Voce Capital Management, since late last year. Voce nominated its own slate of 4 new directors, including managing director J. Daniel Plants, earlier this month.