Evercore Partners has appointed Robert A. Pacha to its advisory practice as a senior managing director to lead the firm's midstream energy practice.

Evercore Partners has appointed Robert A. Pacha to its advisory practice as a senior managing director to lead the firm's midstream energy practice.

Pacha will also establish Evercore's Houston office.

Pacha is an adviser to companies in the midstream energy sector, which includes natural gas transportation, compression, gathering, processing and storage, as well as crude oil and refined products transportation and storage.

He has more than 17 years of investment banking experience, most recently serving as a managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he led the firm's midstream energy and MLP practice.

"This is a milestone for Evercore. Energy is a strategic sector in every respect," says Roger Altman, chairman of Evercore Partners. "Rob is a proven leader in energy banking. And, his arrival marks our new commitment to Houston. We are very excited to be taking this step with Rob."

"I am excited for the opportunity to launch Evercore's midstream energy practice and work with the high-quality advisory team at Evercore," says Pacha. "A number of midstream participants and MLPs are currently facing challenges resulting from volatile commodity prices, high levels of capital expenditures and the currently difficult environment for debt and equity financing, in general, and MLP equity financing, in particular. I look forward to leveraging Evercore's leading advisory platform to assist midstream and MLP clients with their strategic and financial initiatives."