Steve Byers has been named vice president of acquisitions for Praxair Distribution (www.praxair.com).

Previously, Byers was general manager for Praxair Distribution's Southern Division.

He succeeds Rob D'Alessandro who remains chairman of the board of the Praxair Distribution Mid-Atlantic (PDMA) joint venture.

Byers joined Marin Gas in 1988 and held various roles with that company until it was acquired by Praxair Distribution in 1994.

Byers was named branch operations manager and general sales manager in the Central California Division before being named division general manager in 2003.

In 2006 he was appointed to lead the integration of the businesses and employees of Constar LLC into the newly-created Southern Division.