Caterpillar named Dave Walton president and CEO of Cat Financial and VP of the Financial Services division to replace the retiring Kent Adams.

After more than 38 years with Caterpillar, Adams, president and chief executive officer of Caterpillar Financial Services and Caterpillar vice president of the Financial Products division, has elected to retire.

“Under Kent’s guidance since 2005, Cat Financial has been a stable source of earnings through challenging business cycles, including the global financial crisis,” said Jim Umpleby, Caterpillar CEO-elect. “Kent leaves a lasting legacy for Caterpillar through his relentless focus on improving the customer experience as well as developing and nurturing a people-focused culture for employees working for Cat Financial.”

Adams joined Caterpillar in 1979 and performed various finance functions in positions of increasing leadership at Caterpillar Americas, the North American Commercial Division, Caterpillar Asia and Caterpillar Brazil before joining Cat Financial in Nashville, TN, in 1998 as vice president responsible for European operations and marine vessel finance.

He was a member of the ELFA board of directors, the Financial Services Roundtable, the Nashville branch of the Federal Reserve Board of Atlanta, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the board of the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville.

Walton is a 28-year Cat Financial veteran and is currently vice president of Cat Financial Services with administrative responsibility for North America Sales, Cat Mining Finance and Cat Financial Commercial Accounts.

“During his career, Dave has held leadership positions with Cat Financial serving customers across Europe, Asia and the Americas, giving him the broad global perspective required to lead the Financial Products division. Dave has become known for his dedication to helping our customers succeed,” Umpleby said.

Walton has served on the Asia Pacific board of directors for Junior Achievement International. He will assume his new duties April 1, 2017, and will relocate to the Financial Products Division headquarters in Nashville, TN.