Will Restructuring Plans Save Venus Concept?

Venus Concept, a manufacturer of medical aesthetic devices that recently parted ways with its CEO, is turning to layoffs to right the ship.

After three consecutive quarterly top-line misses, Venus Concept replaced former CEO Domenic Serafino with Rajiv De Silva in October. Serafino had been with the Toronto, Ontario-based company for 12 years and was a co-founder.

The company plans to cut its global workforce by about 18%, or 70 employees. The first phase of layoffs in Israel and North America was completed Monday, Venus Concept announced on Tuesday.

“We recently completed the first phase of the comprehensive strategic review and assessment of the company outlined on our third quarter earnings call,” De Silva said. “The assessment, once completed, will inform the development of a transformational plan focused on repositioning Venus Concept to enhance the cash flow profile of the business and to accelerate the path to long-term, sustainable, profitability and growth.”

The company's restructuring activities will include discontinuing operations in unprofitable markets, consolidating functions, eliminating or reducing investments in non-core areas, and prioritizing the allocation of resources to more promising growth opportunities.

"The restructuring plan also includes targeted reductions in our workforce which, while unfortunate for those impacted by these difficult strategic decisions, are necessary to accelerate the process of generating positive, sustainable, operating cash flow," De Silva said.

Leadership changes

Venus also announced several leadership changes on Tuesday.

Søren Maor Sinay, the company’s chief operating officer, has decided to leave the company for "personal reasons through mutual agreement with the company," Venus reported. Sinay will stay on until March 6 as a senior advisor.

Venus Concept appointed Hemanth Varghese to a newly created executive role, president and chief innovation and business officer. This means that, in addition to his continuing responsibilities as the company's chief business officer, Varghese will lead global research and development activities including continued development of energy-based device technologies in Yokneam, Israel and the company's medical robotics center in San Jose, CA.

Bill McGrail was also appointed to a newly created role, senior vice president of technical operations and compliance. In addition to his current responsibilities as VP of global regulatory affairs and quality assurance, McGrail will have oversight over all technical operations at the company including manufacturing and supply chain, regulatory affairs, quality, and technical services.

"As Venus Concept executes our transformational plan it is imperative that we have the organizational structure, and experienced leadership, to improve profitability, and ensure long-term success," De Silva said.