On July 1, the global technology and energy infrastructure corporation, Chicago Bridge & Iron completed a big step in its plan for renewal with the appointment of his former COO, Patrick K. Mullen, as its new President and CEO which follows the retirement of former CEO Philip Asherman.
The moves comes without surprise for The Woodlands, Texas, company as a breath of fresh air. The Board of Directors of CB&I thanked Asherman after 12 years at the head of the company for helping to shape turn it from a specialty tank subcontractor to a global technology and energy infrastructure corporation.
“CB&I’s Supervisory Board is grateful for Phil’s service and congratulates him on his nearly 12 years of leadership of what has become one of the premier energy infrastructure companies in the world,” said L. Richard Flury, Non-Executive Chairman of CB&I’s Supervisory Board according to a company memo.
The takeover of Mullen comes at a time when CB&I has expanded its share of the market to boost its profits and take advantage of a more diverse global energy market.
Mullen joined CB&I in 2007 through the company’s acquisition of Lummus Global. Before being named COO in 2016, Mullen served as executive vice president of the company and president of CB&I’s Engineering & Construction operating group.
“While I recognize this is a challenging cycle for our industry, I have a great deal of confidence in CB&I’s employees and capabilities and in our ability to create long-term value for all of our stakeholders,” Mr. Mullen said. “To best position CB&I going forward as we maintain our relentless focus on safety and sound execution of our backlog, we will be taking decisive action in several areas,” he added on his first day as CEO.
Even though Mullen said he will render a more detailed layout of his plans for CBI’s future soon, he assessed that strengthening their balance sheet is a priority, as well as streamlining the company’s cost profile and further enhancing the company’s risk management and execution standards, meanwhile increasing innovation and collaboration with their customers.
The market reaction was a confidence vote of the Supervisory Board of Directors of CB&I’s decision to hand Mullen the control. A day of the announcement, CBI shares increased its trade value after days of losses.
Marco Islas for TechFunnel.com
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