Emerson is working on receiving final regulatory approvals from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission for completion of the acquisition of Pentair's Valves & Controls business.

In response, Emerson has already entered into an agreement subject to FTC approval to divest a business within Pentair's Valves & Controls business which is not material to the underlying objectives with which Emerson entered the acquisition. Thus, Emerson is very optimistic that it will receive final regulatory approval and be able to close by the end of April. 

Flowserve Corporation has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement to sell its Gestra AG business unit to Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc for an enterprise value of $231 million. In addition to the product’s core manufacturing facilities in Bremen, Germany, the sale also includes several other smaller associated businesses supporting Gestra products.

Flowserve obtained Gestra AG in 2002 as part of the acquisition of Invensys Flow Control. The transaction is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2017. 

Wolseley plc is officially changing its name to Ferguson plc, subject to shareholder approval. Ferguson is the most significant brand in the Wolseley Group of companies and accounts for 84% of the Wolseley Group’s profitability.

The company also announced that CEO Frank Roach will retire on July 31, 2017. Current COO Kevin Murphy will assume the role of CEO effective Aug. 1, 2017. Roach was appointed CEO of Wolseley’s North American Division in January 2006. Murphy joined Ferguson in 1999 through the acquisition of his family’s business, Midwest Pipe and Supply. 

Spirax Sarco hosted their annual charity event at the Westin Hotel in Savannah, GA on Saturday, March 11, 2017 where participants built prosthetic hands for children in third-world countries who are missing limbs.

There are 300,000 landmine rated amputees globally and 20% of those are children. Employees worked in teams to build 37 prosthetic hands for global distribution to children around the world. With one hour to build them, employees, divided into teams, collaborated to reach the common goal of successfully building one hand per group.

This team building activity was a lot of fun for all employees and it was a great way to build morale while building a better world. The prosthetics built are a low-cost alternative for typical medical grade prosthetic hands, generally costing around $3,000 per unit. After completion, the prosthetics were prepped for global distribution.