Hedge fund Pura Vida urges peace at Cutera board, pushes for new CEO search

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Investment firm Pura Vida is wading into a boardroom battle at global aesthetics device company Cutera Inc by warning warring directors on Tuesday it may push ahead with steps to boost the companys share price if they fail to settle their disagreements.

Also on Tuesday, 10 company executives, including the chief financial officer and chief information officer, threw their support behind their chief executive and a senior board member.

The New York-based hedge fund, which owns a 7% stake in Cutera, said it wants the board to “move the company forward with an orderly CEO succession process” with the help of a prominent executive search firm. During the search, Pura Vida wants the current CEO to remain at the helm.

If the board fails to act, Pura Vidas managing member Efrem Kamen said on Tuesday his firm has “identified a world-class CEO and high-quality independent directors” who could help the company.

Pura Vida is also calling on the company to extend the deadline for nominating directors which was in early January.

Cutera‘s share price has tumbled 58% in the last 52 weeks. It jumped 14% on Tuesday though after it regained compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing standards and details about the standoff on the board became public.

A representative for the company did not respond to a request for comment.

Activist investor J. Daniel Plants, who has served on the board for eight years, and CEO David Mowry, who also sits on the board, on Monday said the board has become “factionalized” and that a group of directors have bungled the companys succession planning after Mowry had said that he wanted to leave.

Plants Voce Capital and Mowry together own 7% in Cutera.

Mowry and Plants said in a press release that they are pushing for the removal of five of the boards eight directors and are calling for a special meeting.

The senior executives wrote that Mowry has “earned our trust and respect” since joining the company in 2019 and that he and Plants are a cohesive and effective team.

Cutera on Friday said the board established a special committee of independent directors to review the request for a special meeting and related matters.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)