MRC Global CEO Andrew Lane Retiring at End of 2021

Pipe, valves and fittings distributor MRC Global announced Wednesday that its president and chief executive officer, Andrew Lane, will retire at the end of next year.

The Houston-based company said that after a discussion at Wednesday's board of directors meeting, Lane announced his plan to retire on Dec. 31, 2021, upon which he will also resign from MRC's board. Lane has been MRC's president and CEO since September 2008 and was the company's chairman from December 2009 until the roles of chairman and CEO were separated in April 2016.

Lane"Next year I turn 62. I will complete my 13th year as CEO, and the company will reach it's 100-year milestone next year. It's the right time for me to retire," Lane said. "I'm especially proud of helping to build the global PVF distribution leader in the energy industry. It has been an honor to lead our team in achieving a successful initial public offering in April 2012, reaching $5.9 billion in sales in 2014 at the last peak in the oil and gas cycle, successfully addressing the volatile market conditions in recent years and working to build our MRCGO digital platform as we continue to position our business into the future."

Lane added, "I look forward to continuing to work closely with the board, the executive management team and our dedicated employees over the next 18 months to take the necessary actions in response to today's low oil and gas price and the Covid-19 external environment to position MRC Global for the eventual recovery in the years to follow."

Rhys Best, MRC Global's chairman of the board stated, "On behalf of the board of directors we want to thank Andrew for his leadership of MRC Global and his many years of service to our company. Given the extended timeline before Mr. Lane retires at the end of 2021, the board of directors will begin a thorough and deliberate CEO selection process."

MRC Global has approximately 3,350 employee across about 260 service locations worldwide, serving more than 15,000 customers. The company was No. 6 on Industrial Distribution's 2019 Big 50 List on account of its $4.17 billion in 2018 sales. Like many distributors on The Big 50, MRC's saw a considerable slowdown in sales through the second half of 2019 and into 2020 amid ongoing weakened demand in the industrial products sector, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. MRC's Q3 2019 sales fell 12 percent year-over-year; Q4 2019 sales were down 24 percent; and Q1 2020 sales were down 18 percent.