Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN), a leading provider of software and services to the process industries, today announced an executive transition plan to take place over the next two quarters. Antonio Pietri, currently AspenTech’s Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations, will become the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, effective October 1st, 2013.  Mark Fusco will continue to serve as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer during this transition period, after which time he will be retiring to spend more time with his family.

Pietri has been with AspenTech for the past 17 years, joining the company through its acquisition of Setpoint where he served as a sales manager for the South American region.  He’s taken on increasingly senior executive management positions at AspenTech during his tenure, including serving as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations since 2007.  Previous positions with AspenTech included Managing Director of the Asia Pacific Region, Vice President of Business Consulting, and other operating roles in sales and global services.   

Prior to joining Setpoint, Pietri worked at ABB Simcon as an applications engineer where he implemented advanced control and multi-variable controllers on refining processes.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tulsa and an MBA degree from the University of Houston. 

Mark Fusco, AspenTech’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “It has been a privilege to serve as AspenTech’s CEO for the last eight years.  I’m very proud of what our team has accomplished in driving consistent growth, generating strong cash flow, improving our capital structure and transitioning the company’s business model.  Our collective efforts have contributed to a significant increase in shareholder value.” 

Fusco added, “A major contributor to AspenTech’s success has been Antonio Pietri, and we believe he is the perfect candidate to serve as the company’s next CEO.  He has deep domain expertise and a long-term track record of driving strong performance across all of AspenTech’s customer facing operations on a global basis.  AspenTech is executing at a high level, and we are very fortunate to have an executive with Antonio’s strong background and executive leadership experience to sustain the company’s strong momentum.” 

Antonio Pietri, AspenTech’s Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations and President and Chief Executive Officer-Designate, said “I’m honored to be named the next CEO of AspenTech, where I’ll be able to leverage my executive leadership experience to build on Mark’s tremendous track record.  We believe there is a significant opportunity for our customers to realize additional business value by expanding their usage of our aspenONE suite, which also positions AspenTech well for continued strong growth, profitability and cash generation in the years ahead.  AspenTech has a very bright future, and I look forward to leading the company’s world-class management team and working with Mark in the months ahead, as I have for many years.”

In addition, Pietri will join AspenTech’s Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2013.  Fusco has notified the company that he will resign from AspenTech’s Board of Directors, effective as of the close of business on September 30, 2013, at the end of the executive transition.

About AspenTech  

AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimizes process manufacturing – for energy, chemicals, engineering and construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a chemical process. With integrated aspenONE solutions, process manufacturers can implement best practices for optimizing their engineering, manufacturing and supply chain operations. As a result, AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve margins, reduce costs and become more energy efficient. To see how the world’s leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com.

Forward Looking Statements  

The sixth paragraph of this press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Actual results may vary significantly from expectations based on a number of risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation: demand for, or usage of, aspenONE software declines for any reason; AspenTech’s failure to realize the anticipated financial (including cash flow) and operational benefits of the aspenONE subscription offering; and other risk factors described from time to time in AspenTech’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

© 2013 Aspen Technology, Inc.  AspenTech and aspenONE are registered trademarks, and the Aspen leaf logo is a trademark, of Aspen Technology, Inc.  All rights reserved.  All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.