(Bloomberg) -- Smiths Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Paul Keel is stepping down with immediate effect after less than three years on the job.

He’ll be replaced by company veteran Roland Carter, who has been with Smiths for more than 30 years, last leading the detection division, the London-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. Keel is returning to the US, where most of his family is based, to take on a new role as chief executive officer of a public company there, Smiths said.

Under Keel, installed in 2021 to steer a transformation of the threat detection and security screening company, Smiths sold its medical division to ICU Medical Inc. for $2.35 billion, giving it a stake in the San Clemente, California-based firm. ICU beat out private equity firm TA Associates LLP to clinch the deal at the time.

The company affirmed its full-year organic revenue growth forecast and launched a share buyback of £100 million ($127 million), saying it expects a “record” order book to drive growth in the second half. Smiths shares rose as much as 1.4% in London, after initially dropping as much as 1.9%.

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