CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. (B&W) (NYSE:BW) announced today that it has appointed Leslie C. Kass to serve as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Jim Ferland will work closely with Ms. Kass, the management team and the Board in the role of Executive Chairman until he steps down from the Board on June 30, 2018 per his current employment agreement.
Ms. Kass has more than twenty years of engineering, operational and site-level leadership experience with a number of energy and power companies, along with a strong background and acumen in working with the financial community, shareholders and potential investors. She has held a number of roles of increasing responsibility since joining B&W in 2013, most recently leading B&W’s Industrial segment.
Stephen G. Hanks, who is continuing as Lead Independent Director, said, “We are pleased that our succession planning process has produced a strong internal candidate, and we are confident that we have chosen the right person to lead B&W. Leslie’s extensive knowledge of B&W, its markets, and its customers, combined with her experience in driving operational improvements and strategic initiatives, make her a great fit to build on Jim’s many contributions and lead the Company going forward.”
“I am excited to take on this new role and to build on the already strong foundation B&W has developed as a leading provider of custom-engineered technologies and solutions and aftermarket services to global power and industrial markets,” Ms. Kass said. “We will continue to focus on improving B&W’s profitability, cash flow, financial flexibility, and consistency across the organization. I look forward to working closely with the Board, Jim, the leadership team and all B&W employees to execute on our strategies to create value for shareholders.”
To ensure a smooth transition process, the Board has created a new committee that will work closely with management to oversee the continued implementation of key initiatives launched last year that are intended to achieve an optimal business mix, cost structure and capital structure. Members of this committee will initially consist of Mr. Ferland, Ms. Kass, Mr. Hanks, and two additional independent directors – Brian R. Kahn and Brian K. Ferraioli.
Mr. Ferland said, “When B&W became a standalone company almost three years ago, I committed to continue as CEO at least until a clearly capable successor emerged. I am confident that my colleagues on the Board have chosen the right person to lead B&W, and I look forward to working with Leslie over the next several months to ensure a smooth transition as she prepares to lead B&W into the future.”
Additionally, the Company has named Mark A. Carano, Senior Vice President, Industrial and Corporate Development, to lead the Industrial segment, effective immediately.
About Leslie C. Kass
Leslie C. Kass served as Senior Vice President, Industrial at Babcock & Wilcox since May, 2017. She joined B&W in 2013, and subsequently served in various roles including Vice President of Retrofits, the largest business line in the company’s Power segment. Before joining B&W, Kass held a number of engineering and project management-related positions of increasing responsibility with Westinghouse, Entergy and Duke Energy. She earned an undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Master’s of Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
About Mark A. Carano
Mark A. Carano has served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Industrial Finance since January 2017. Prior to this, since joining B&W in 2013, he has led the company’s corporate development and treasury departments. Before joining B&W, Carano was a managing director in the investment banking group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and held various roles of increasing responsibility in investment banking at Deutsche Bank, both domestically and internationally. He earned an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Business School.
About B&W
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Babcock & Wilcox is a global leader in energy and environmental technologies and services for the power and industrial markets, and has been transforming our world for 150 years. Follow us on Twitter @BabcockWilcox and learn more at www.babcock.com.
