Rowan Companies says 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 will be an outstanding leader to Rowan's already strong management team. We are extremely pleased to have someone with his breadth of experience and vision and believe he is the right person to take the Company to the next chapter in its history and continue our ongoing efforts to provide greater value to our shareholders," said Rowan Director Jack Lentz.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Ralls said, "I am honored to be a part of Rowan and look forward to working with its outstanding leadership team and Board of Directors. Rowan is a leader in providing quality jack-up rigs capable of completing the deepest drilling in the toughest environments, with a long tradition of growing and adapting to serve the needs of the industry. The next few years should be exciting, challenging times as we focus on the Company's continued growth and global expansion."

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.

Tags: Rowan Companies