Valve Manufacturing

Alfa Laval Agrees to Buy Neles for Approximately $2 Billion

Swedish company Alfa Laval AB and Neles Corporation have entered into a combination agreement pursuant to which Alfa Laval will make a voluntary recommended public cash tender offer for all issued and outstanding shares in Neles that are not held by Neles or any of its subsidiaries.

In the tender offer, Neles’ shareholders will be offered a cash consideration of 11.50 euros for each issued and outstanding share in Neles, valuing Neles’ total equity at approximately 1,727,000,000 euros ($1.97 billion). The board of directors of Neles who participated in the decision-making have unanimously decided to recommend that the shareholders accept the tender offer.

Neles’ New Valve Technology Center in China Starts Operations

Neles’ new valve technology center in Jiaxing, China, has started its operations. The new plant strengthens Neles’ valve and related products production capabilities and increases availability for customers across various process industries, in China and globally. The greenfield investment to respond to the growing demand of valve technologies was announced in October 2018.

The new plant will produce over 100,000 valves per year. Neles has valve technology or production centers around the world in North America, Germany, Finland, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and India.

Richards Industrials Names Bast President & CEO, Succeeding Broxterman

The board of directors at Richards Industrials has appointed Jordan Bast as president and CEO. Bast brings to the position a wealth of knowledge and experience in the valve industry on national and global levels. He has vast experience in business development and management across process industries and discrete manufacturing, having recently served as VP and general manager for Crane Fluid Handling.

Bast will join Richards Industrials on July 13, 2020. He will succeed Bruce Broxterman, who is retiring after fifteen years as president and CEO but will remain a member of the board.

Broxterman is excited for this new chapter and says “Bast has the leadership skills, extensive experience and passion that perfectly positions him to lead Richards forward.”

Flotech Stocking Henry Pratt Valves in the Carolinas

The Henry Pratt Company announces Flotech as their new stocking distributor in both North and South Carolina. In addition to stocking Pratt (Milliken) valves in Florida, Flotech will add inventory in their existing Charleston, SC facility.

Flotech has the largest Pratt valve inventory in the U.S. Henry Pratt Company is a Mueller Water Products brand.

DistributionNOW Names Cherechinsky CEO

DistributionNOW announced that its board of directors has appointed David Cherechinsky to lead the company as full-time CEO, effective immediately. Cherechinsky, who has served as CFO of the company since 2018, will take over the CEO role from Dick Alario, a current board director who stepped in as interim CEO during a leadership transition in November 2019. Alario will continue advising the company as executive vice chairman.

Prior to becoming CFO of DistributionNOW, Cherechinsky served as the company’s chief accounting officer, and prior to that, as vice president of finance for the NOV Distribution & Transmission business segment. He began his career at NOV in 1989.

The board selected Mark Johnson to succeed Cherechinsky as CFO. Johnson has served as chief accounting officer and vice president, corporate controller since 2018.