Bill Hawkins wasn't idle for long. The former Medtronic ($MDT) chief is slated to take over as Immucor's CEO as of Oct. 17. He replaces Joshua Levine, who joined the company back in June. Norcross, GA-based Immucor, which turns 30 next year, sells automated instrument-reagents systems that detect and identify certain properties of blood prior to transfusion.
Hawkins announced late last year he would be leaving Medtronic--catching some analysts off-guard. But as the Star-Tribune notes, Medtronic's stock languished during his time as CEO, with total returns declining 6.8%. But now he's coming back to Georgia. Prior to joining Medtronic, he served as CEO of Novoste, which develops treatments for coronary and vascular diseases and is a leader in vascular brachytherapy.
Levine noted that he is sad to leave the company. "Unfortunately, the challenges of having my family in California and my office in Atlanta ultimately became unsustainable, which led to my decision to step down," he said in a statement. "I am confident that under the leadership of Bill Hawkins and the rest of the management team, Immucor will continue its strong growth trajectory and industry leadership position. During this leadership change, Bill and the team will have my full support to ensure a seamless transition."
Earlier this year, Immucor entered an agreement to be bought by investment funds managed by TPG Capital in a transaction with a fully diluted equity value of almost $2 billion.
- see the Immucor release
- check out more from the Star-Tribune