Bank of America's global head of mergers and acquisitions Jeffrey Kaplan is leaving the bank to join hedge fund Appaloosa Management and will be replaced by Steven Baronoff who chairs that business, according to a memo obtained by Reuters on Monday.

Kaplan will be chief operating officer at Appaloosa, reporting to founder David Tepper, the memo said.

New Jersey-based Appaloosa has around $16 billion under management.

Kaplan joined Merrill Lynch in 1987 and has advised on a number of major deals including Walt Disney Co's $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment.

Baronoff, who is chairman of global mergers & acquisitions, started his Wall Street career at Merrill Lynch in 1986 and became head of the global M&A business there in 2000.

Deals he has advised on include PepsiCo's

purchase of Pepsi Bottling Group and Pepsi Americas and Procter & Gamble's

acquisition of Gillette.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Richard Chang)

Investment Bank of america Pepsico