CEO Geoff Purtill on Invacare’s future

ELYRIA, Ohio – A lot has happened in the first half of the year for Invacare and now that its U.S. entities have emerged from bankruptcy, it’s back to business, says CEO Geoff Purtill. 

Since January, Invacare has, among other things, sold its Top End business and its respiratory business; announced plans to close a distribution facility in Sanford, Fla., this fall; partnered with MTMC to expand the reach of its lifestyle portfolio; and emerged from bankruptcy on May 5, 94 days after filling. 

“May 5 marks a new beginning for Invacare,” he said. “We still have a lot to do in 2023, but we’ve done a lot already. We are really focused on restoring and growing our customer confidence.” 

As part of the bankruptcy process, Invacare restructured and shaved off $223 million of principal and unpaid interest, putting the company in “a stronger position to make the changes needed to drive sustainable growth in the future,” Purtill said. 

Here’s what else he had to say about Invacare’s path forward. 

On delivering long-term growth 

“The demographics of the market remain positive in North America and around the world,” Purtill said. “The bolus of people coming through want to remain as mobile and active as possible in their community. At the core of what we do are high-quality products that people need. We think lifestyle, as well as mobility & seating, are areas where we will continue to grow, improve and invest in new product development – not just products, but services and solutions that meet peoples’ needs.” 

On capitalizing on global tailwinds 

“The downward inflation that we see around the world – that’s a downside for all industries,” Purtill said. “But it’s less of a downside for our industry because we’re providing products that enhance peoples’ lives. We’re now in a lot better position as a company to move forward and we’re already experiencing improvements in the availability of our products. We have seen delays in some of our critical components but are now seeing good progress to turn around this situation. Delivering product to our customer is our number one priority.” 

On communicating transparently with providers 

“We are very focused on reducing order backlog that is still elevated vs. pre-pandemic, and also build inventory,” Purtill said. “The key for our providers is product availability. The other key is getting information from us that’s accurate. It’s an area that we need to continue to work on and being transparent on where products are in the cycle and when they’ll be available. We need to build confidence in what we’re saying, so we can get the credibility to further grow sales.” 

On getting back on the NYSE 

“We’re a quasi-public company right now,” Purtill said. “We have a limited number of equity shareholders who were our former debt holders and a key shareholder. In the future, we’ll have a lot of discussion about being a private vs. public company and the benefits of each. Our intention would be to deliver on our goals and relist in the future.”