The Long Island Power Authority tapped Joseph Branca, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's head of northeast public finance, as its new chief financial officer.
Branca will replace Tom Falcone, who was recently promoted to CEO of the public utility and has held both posts with the large issuer since last summer.
Before joining BofA Merrill, Branca managed public finance efforts in New York State for Morgan Stanley from 1998 to 2005. His 40-year career, which began as a Standard & Poor's analyst in 1976, has also included a stint as CFO for the Empire State Development Corporation and the New York State Urban Development Corporation.
"We had a lot of good candidates, but Joe really stood above everyone," said Falcone, who said 100 candidates that applied for the role and Branca was unanimously selected by the LIPA Board of Trustees. "He is very well known to rating agencies and investors."
Branca is expected to arrive at LIPA in August and Falcone said he will help with the transition. The agency is in the midst of restructuring $4.5 billion of debt through its Utility Debt Securitization Authority.
Falcone said around $3.5 billion in bonds have been issued thus far for the debt restructuring and another deal with the USDA is anticipated for August or September.
Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings revised LIPA's credit outlook to stable from negative last November ahead of a $266 million electric system general revenue bond sale, citing a three-year rate hike from 2016 to 2018 approved by the New York Department of Public Service.
The authority has around $7.9 billion of debt outstanding in late 2015. The utility's operations were taken over by PSEG Long Island in 2014 following passage of the LIPA Reform Act of 2013.
