BARBERTON, Ohio — November 19, 2018 — Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc. (B&W) announced today that Kenny Young has been appointed CEO of the Company, effective immediately. Leslie Kass, who has served as CEO since February 2018, is leaving B&W to pursue other opportunities. Additionally, B&W announced Lou Salamone has been appointed to serve as executive vice president of Finance and with the expectation that he will transition to the role of CFO in the near term. B&W also announced that Henry E. Bartoli will serve as chief strategy officer and will remain a member of the Board of Directors as a non-independent director. Robert Caruso will continue to serve as chief implementation officer.
The executive changes put in place a proven leadership team with a combination of turnaround expertise and power industry experience and are intended to unlock value from B&W’s various segments and lead to increased shareholder returns. The new management team has been granted equity awards that begin to vest when the price of B&W’s common stock reaches $2.25 per share.
“We thank Leslie for her efforts in reshaping the company’s various segments, accelerating the exit of a difficult European construction business, and relocating the corporate headquarters. We appreciate her support during this transition and wish her the best in her new endeavors,” said Matt Avril, chairman of the B&W Board of Directors.
“This is the next step in the Board’s efforts to increase equity value for all of our shareholders. Kenny and Lou led the successful turnaround at LCC International, a global telecom engineering and infrastructure services company, and we look forward to their contributions at Babcock & Wilcox,” added Avril. “Combined with Henry’s extensive industry experience, this new leadership team is intended to help the company leverage its broad capabilities while driving efforts to achieve improved financial performance for all of our stakeholders.”
“Babcock & Wilcox, through its employees and subsidiaries, has created tremendous brand equity and a unique market position. Unlocking our products and technical expertise, within each of our operational brands and segments, creates a competitive differentiation. I am excited to step into the role of chief executive officer,” said Mr. Young. “I look forward to working closely with our customers and employees in support of their efforts to drive and enhance product quality, improve our operational capabilities and create incremental value for our customers through higher levels of technology and performance. Henry, Lou and I have a great opportunity to leverage our financial and industry experience and are motivated to strengthen our business and generate greater returns for our shareholders.”
In the newly created position of chief strategy officer, Bartoli will advise the senior management team and oversee the execution of market and operational strategies across the company.
Young has more than 30 years of operational, financial, marketing and executive leadership experience. He currently serves as President of B. Riley Financial Inc. and CEO of B. Riley Principal Investments LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of B. Riley Financial. Previously, he served for seven years as president and CEO of LCC International Inc. In this role, he led a turnaround through various cost reductions and market expansions that yielded significant top and bottom line performance improvements.
Salamone has more than 25 years of experience as a chief financial officer of diversified public companies such as Nextel Communications, Applied Graphics Technologies and LCC International, Inc.; as well as with private equity-backed companies such as USi, GXS and, most recently, CityMD. Salamone was previously a partner at Deloitte & Touche.
Bartoli has more than 35 years of experience in all aspects of the global power industry. Most recently, Bartoli served as president and CEO of Hitachi Power Systems America Ltd. Previously, Bartoli held senior executive corporate positions at The Shaw Group, Foster Wheeler Corp., and Burns and Roe Enterprises Inc.
Posted November 28, 2018
Source: Babcock & Wilcox