NEW YORK, May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE: EVR) announced today that Robert A. Pacha has agreed to join the firm's Advisory Practice as a Senior Managing Director and will lead the firm's midstream energy practice. Mr. Pacha will also establish Evercore's Houston office and play an important role in building the firm's presence in this center for the worldwide energy industry. Mr. Pacha is a leading advisor 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," said 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." Mr. Pacha's tenure at Merrill Lynch included heading a team that was the leading advisor in the midstream energy sector based on both dollar value of transactions and number of transactions completed. He worked on some of the most noteworthy transactions in the sector over the past several years, including advising: MarkWest Hydrocarbons, Inc. in its sale to MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P.; Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. on its acquisition of an 18.7% interest in Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. and 50% of the Class B interests in Energy Transfer Partners, G.P., L.P.; and Targa Resources, Inc. on its acquisition of Dynegy Midstream, L.P. In addition, Mr. Pacha has advised clients on noteworthy transactions in other sectors of the energy industry, including advising Loews Corporation on its acquisition of Dominion Resources' Permian Basin natural gas production assets and Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc. on the divestiture of its Power Products Division and its ultimate sale to Armor Holdings. "I am excited for the opportunity to launch Evercore's midstream energy practice and work with the high-quality advisory team at Evercore," said Mr. 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." Mr. Pacha, 40, holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S., Concentration in Finance, from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. About Evercore Partners Evercore Partners is a leading investment banking boutique and investment management firm. Evercore's Advisory business counsels its clients on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings and other strategic transactions. Evercore's Investment Management business comprises private equity investing, institutional asset management and wealth management. Evercore serves a diverse set of clients around the world from its offices in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Houston, London, Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. More information about Evercore can be found on the Company's Web site at http://www.evercore.com/. EVR-X DATASOURCE: Evercore Partners Inc. CONTACT: Investor, Bob Walsh, Chief Financial Officer of Evercore Partners, +1-212-857-3100; or Media, Kenny Juarez, or Dana Gorman, both of The Abernathy MacGregor Group, for Evercore Partners, +1-212-371-5999 Web Site: http://www.evercore.com/

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