Former Biolase Chairman and CEO Federico Pignatelli to Mount Proxy Contest to Gain Control of the BIOLASE Board of Directors

Federico Pignatelli, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BIOLASE, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIOL), announces his intention to pursue control of the BIOLASE Board of Directors via a proxy contest at the company’s next annual meeting of stockholders. To that end, Mr. Pignatelli is actively recruiting four Director Nominees who, along with Mr. Pignatelli, will comprise a full slate of five Nominees to put to a vote of BIOLASE stockholders.

The date of the 2015 BIOLASE annual meeting is not yet set, but it is expected to be in or about June 2015.

“Since I resigned from the BIOLASE Board of Directors last August the company’s stock price has been hovering at only $2 per share, less than half the price during my three years as CEO, while the S&P 500 index has risen nearly 10%,” said Mr. Pignatelli. “To add insult to injury, the company’s Directors continue to lavish excessive and unwarranted privileges upon an executive team that has accomplished nothing.”

Mr. Pignatelli has made clear his views of the mismanagement of BIOLASE and the loyalties of its Directors through a series of news releases and Letters to Stockholders. To access Mr. Pignatelli’s Letters to Stockholders, dated August 27, 2014, September 21, 2014 and February 12, 2015, as published in full-page ads in the Orange County Register, please click here.

About Federico Pignatelli

Mr. Pignatelli served on the BIOLASE Board of Directors continuously from 1991 through August 2014 and is currently the beneficial owner of approximately 1.8 million shares of BIOLASE common stock. He served as Executive Chairman from 1994 through 2006. He was Chairman Emeritus from March 2006 to July 2010. He served as Chairman of the Board and as Chief Executive Officer from September 2010 through June 2014, during which time, and at his request, he was paid an annual salary of only $1.

Under his leadership, from 1994 to early 2006 when he resigned as Executive Chairman, revenues grew from approximately $1 million to approximately $70 million and the company’s market capitalization increased from approximately $3.5 million to approximately $500 million. In his second round as Chairman and CEO, he managed a formidable business and financial turnaround by restructuring what was essentially a bankrupt BIOLASE into a success again, tripling revenues from approximately $20 million to approximately $60 million with an increase in market capitalization from approximately $15 million in August 2010 to approximately $130 million in February 2013, twice exceeding $200 million during the period.