INDUSTRY
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
CAPSULES
CAMERON ACQUISITIONS INCLUDE
DYNATORQUE
VMA member Cameron has acquired the Dyna Torque
line of products and services form Hines Corporation.
The business will now be offered through Cameron’s
Flow Control division, part of the company’s Drilling &
Production Systems group.
Dyna Torque—also a member of the Valve Manufac-
turers Association—designs, manufactures, markets and
sells manual gear operators, overrides, components,
accessories and specialty products, including mechanical
partial stroke test devices, for use with valves, actuators
and dampers. The company has a manufacturing plant in
Muskegon, MI.
Also, Cameron entered into an agreement in late Sep-
tember to acquire KB Industries, an Odessa, TX-based
manufacturer of blowout preventers (BOPs) and BOP
surface control systems, for approximately $85 million
in cash. The transaction is expected to close in late 2008.
KB manufactures BOPs under the Townsend brand, and
BOP surface control systems under the Burnsco brand, for use
on land-based drilling rigs in the U.S. and Canada, and also
provides replacement parts and service under the Melco brand
name.
VELAN COMPLETES BPS SALE
Velan has officially entered into a definitive agreement with
BPS S.r.l. for the sale of its 50% interest in Velan S.r.l. BPS
has paid $44.4 million and Velan expects to record a gain of
approximately $37.5 million in the first quarter of its fiscal
2009 year.
Velan and BPS, which is owned by five senior executives of
SRL, established SRL in 2003 to manufacture trunnion-
mounted API6D and 6A ball valves. SRL, whose name has
been changed to Valbart, will continue to supply valves to the
Velan Group.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Crane Energy Flow Solutions, a Crane
Co. Company.... announces the appoint-
ment of Vincent Buffa to the position of
president, Crane Energy Flow Solu-
tions. Buffa joined Crane in December
2007 as president, Crane Pumps & Sys-
tems, where he has led targeted, cus-
tomer-focused marketing strategies and
directed Operational Excellence tools.
Prior to coming to Crane last year,
Vince had leadership roles in the aero-
space and defense industries for
Rexnord Aerospace, Honeywell, Smiths
Aerospace and Allied Signal.
Emerson.... has named
Steven A. Sonnenberg
executive vice president of
Emerson and business
leader of Emerson Process
SONNENBERG Manage-
ment, headquartered in
Austin, TX. John M.
Berra, a 32-year veteran
of Emerson who has been
business leader since BERRA
2000, will become chairman of Emer-
son Process Management to focus pri-
marily on strategic planning, technolo-
gy, key customer relationships and
organizational planning.
Mueller Water Products... has named
Robert G. Leggett chief operating officer. He will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of Mueller Water
Products’ three divisions: Mueller Co.,
U.S. Pipe and Anvil, Int’l., with the division presidents reporting directly to him.
Leggett has more than 25 years of
management experience, including
operations, marketing and new product
development. Previously, he was senior
vice president Americas & Europe for
Armstrong Building Products.
Curtiss-Wright Flow Control…has
named Clifton D. Jacobs its new vice
president of operational excellence,
reporting directly to Curtiss-Wright
Flow Control President David Linton.
Jacobs will be responsible for develop-
ing and implementing operational
excellence initiatives and programs to
drive business improvement across the
organization.
Most recently, Jacobs was vice president and general manager of Hamilton
Sundstrand Electric Systems.
PASSINGS
Lew Babbidge, who was
honored as the Valve Manufacturers Associations’
1990 Man-of-the-Year
(VMA’s highest honor), BABBIDGE
passed away in late August. He was
employed by the U.S. Division of the
Score Group and was visiting the company’s head office in Peterhead, Scotland when he died of a heart attack.
Prior to working for Score, Babbidge was employed by VMA members
Tom Wheatley Valve and Daniel Industries. He was very active in VMA’s committee structure and instrumental with
helping to develop VMA’s educational
seminars and exhibits.
