Rowan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RDC) announced that, effective January 1, 2009, its Board of Directors has named W. Matt Ralls as the company's new President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, succeeding D.F. McNease, who announced his retirement in late October 2008.
Mr. Ralls, 59, most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of GlobalSantaFe Corporation, an international contract drilling company, from June 2005 until the completion of the merger of GlobalSantaFe with Transocean, Inc. in November 2007. Prior to that time Mr. Ralls served as Senior Vice President and CFO of GlobalSantaFe. He joined Global Marine, Inc. in 1997 as Vice President and Treasurer and was Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer prior to the November 2001 merger that created GlobalSantaFe.
Mr. Ralls previously held executive positions at two publicly traded oil and gas companies and various management positions in commercial banking. Mr. Ralls has been a Director of GP of El Paso Pipeline Partners since January 2008. He has been a Director of Complete Production Services since 1995. Mr. Ralls received an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and a Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
The company's Board of Directors also named Jack Lentz as Chairman of the Board, effective January 1, 2009. Mr. Lentz, 63, has held a position on Rowan's Board since 1990. He is an Advisory Director of Barclays Capital and was formerly Managing Director of Lehman Brothers. Mr. Lentz also serves on the boards of Peabody Energy Corp. and CARBO Ceramics, Inc.
Rowan Companies, Inc. is a worldwide provider of contract drilling services utilizing a fleet of 22 high-spec offshore jack-up rigs and 30 deep-well land drilling rigs. The company also owns and operates a manufacturing division that produces equipment for the drilling, mining and timber industries.
(www.rowancompanies.com)