Lal Karsanbhai will succeed Michael Train to become executive president of Emerson Automation Solutions, effective October 1. As previously announced, Train will take over as Emerson’s president and will also serve as chairman of Automation Solutions.

Karsanbhai, who has served as group president of Emerson’s Rosemount Measurement & Analytical business since 2016, has more than 23 years of experience with Emerson in a career that spans the globe. He served as president of Emerson’s former Network Power business in Europe, Middle East and Africa from 2014 and has held leadership roles throughout Emerson, including vice president of corporate planning, president of Emerson’s Fisher regulator technologies, and vice president and general manager of its natural gas unit. 

Pfingsten Partners, L.L.C. has invested in Quality Valve, Inc., a multi-brand distributor of OEM replacement parts for safety and relief valves, in partnership with the company’s founder, Raymond McCaffrey, III. Pfingsten acquired Quality Valve on July 27, 2018.

“We are eager to partner with Pfingsten and take Quality Valve to the next level,” said Quality Valve president, Raymond McCaffrey, III, who retained equity ownership in the company. “Pfingsten’s operational capabilities, conservative capital structure and prior experience in the valve industry will provide our Company with additional resources to scale our customer-centric value proposition.”

Velan Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary located in Lucca, Italy, has been awarded important contracts for the supply of three different types of valves to MODEC Offshore Production Systems (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. These orders represent a sales value of about $18 million and are scheduled for delivery by early 2019.

Velan ABV signed contracts with MODEC for the supply of API 6D and API 6A valves for their new floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) MV30 Carioca vessel. The FPSO will be deployed at the Sépia field operated by Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), located in the giant “pre-salt” region of the Santos Basin some 250 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at a water depth approximately 2,200 meters. 

Emerson Automation Solutions net sales increased 18% in the quarter, with underlying sales up 12% excluding favorable currency of 2% and an impact from acquisitions of 4%. Growth continued to reflect strong short cycle repair and maintenance (MRO) demand and projects focused on expansion and optimization of existing facilities. Trends were positive across all key market verticals and world areas, with double digit growth in both mature and emerging markets.