In anticipation of summer, we have important moves and market intelligence in professional services. Our main Consulting and Law players make strategic moves into new geographies, widening their global reach. More and more tech and AI partnerships are coming up, but there’s also key growth in Turnaround, Restructuring, and Financial Services.
People Moves
Antoine Ramspacher has been elected as a Partner in Arthur D. Little‘s French Automotive & Manufacturing Practice. Based in Paris, he has 20 years of consulting experience and has contributed significantly to the development of ADL’s mining and agro-fertilizers businesses. He previously spent time at CVA and Rams & Co.
Kantar Public has announced the arrival of two Non-Executive Directors as it looks to build on its early momentum as an independent brand. Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband and ex-BBC technology chief Matthew Postgate will now sit on Kantar Public’s global management board.
Investigations professional and forensic accountant Chris Phillips has joined advisory firm Quantuma. Phillips becomes a Managing Director in Quantuma’s London office and joins from Alvarez & Marsal. He previously spent time at Deloitte as an Investigations Partner.
KPMG strengthens its team in Saudi Arabia with the appointment of a new Partner and promotion of seven professionals to Senior Director level. In Advisory, KPMG has promoted Amin Abu Sbeit, Ahmad Sammour, Jamal Abdallah, Basil Ghanem, and Raad Alamad. Notably, the five Senior Directors work for four different services lines. In the Audit division, Saleh Mostafa has been promoted to Partner, while Mowafak Omirah and Farid Memon are now Senior Directors.
Alan Jope has joined Accenture’s global board of directors. As a Non-Executive Director, he will sit alongside nine other experts, including CEO Julie Sweet, to advise on the firm’s international policies. He is currently Unilever CEO and has been with the firm for over 15 years.
A&M strengthens its Sovereign Advisory Services Practice with the addition of Senior Director Christopher Dielmann in Washington D.C. He brings extensive experience in advising sovereigns in debt distress, joining from the World Bank and having previously been with the International Monetary Fund.
Arthur D. Little announce Mickaël Tauvel has been elected as a Partner in their Travel & Transportation Practice. Mickaël joined Arthur D. Little in 2011 and has been specializing in the mobility sector, taking on the leadership of the Global Mobility Competence Center within the Travel & Transportation practice. He’s also focusing on strategic marketing, top-line growth, new business model, and transformation.
A&M welcome Director Jonathan Koskas to their Digital and Technology Services team! Jonathan brings 14 years of experience in digital customer experience and top-line growth strategy, and joins from Accenture in Paris.
Following its UK launch, TMX Global is growing its UK team, announcing new board and senior staff hires. Alistair Binns joins the supply chain consultancy as Commercial Director, while Jacek Lechocki arrives as Programme Director.
A&M announces the expansion of the Corporate Transformation Tax (CTT) platform with the appointment of Shaun Alane Lockhart, CPA as Managing Director and leader of the firm’s Tax Performance Improvement team in Atlanta. She joins from EY, where she was an Executive Director.
A&M Taxand welcomes new Managing Director Rhys Owen to help expand the firm’s Funds team in London. He brings more than 13 years of experience in Private Equity and Funds Taxation and joins from EY, where he was a Partner.
Jean-Michele Mollo joins FTI Consulting to launch and develop the Corporate Finance, Restructuring, and Business Transformations activities in Belgium. He joins from Alvarez & Marsal, having previously also spent time at Monitor Deloitte.
Mercer in Germany has a new CEO: Martin Haep, formerly Wealth Leader for the region, who has been with the firm for over 16 years. He succeeds Norman Dreger, who spent some 25 years with Mercer.
Kearney has bolstered the senior leadership of its Riyadh office with Khedher Khoshhal (Partner) and Nabil Nassar (Director). Khoshhal has been tasked with helping Kearney grow its presence in the public sector landscape, and contribute to its ambitious growth plans in the Kingdom. Nassar joins Kearney from investment group Qiddiya, where he served as Head of Special Projects and was part of the Strategy team working on projects in sectors including entertainment, hospitality, and real estate.
A&M India welcomes Managing Director Santosh Kamath to our Mumbai office. Mr. Kamath brings over 23 years of experience and will lead the firm;s Clean Energy and Energy Transition practice in India. He works across the energy value chain, including power utilities, conventional and renewable energy generators, grid operators, regulators, and governments.
A&M welcomes new Senior Director Walid Chamma in Dubai. Walid will be expanding the Debt Advisory practice in the Middle East. His primary areas of concentration are debt advisory, special situations and debt restructuring.
BDO has appointed two new Partners in the UK: Steve Salisbury from PwC’s Digital Audit capability, and Graham Handy, previously in FTI Consulting’s Global Insurance Services. Salisbury joins BDO in its specialist technical risk assurance (TRA) team within the audit department, and Handy works within the firm’s insurance industry team.
A&M Disputes and Investigations welcomes Rishi Chhatwal as a Managing Director within the Forensic Technology Services (FTS) group in Boston. He will focus on regulatory risk, M&A discovery and information management, and FinTech investigations.
Martin Rauchenwald has joined Arthur D. Little as a Partner and Leader of the firm’s Financial Services (FS) practice in Austria. Martin works across all levels of the industry, from leading large-scale bank transformation programs to being a private equity investor; he was previously with Financial Services Capital and Alantra.
Dr. Johanna Puetz is promoted to Managing Director and Partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Germany. She has been with the firm since the start of her career, over 11 years, and focuses on sustainability work, leading Climate & Sustainability for Central Europe.
After some twenty years at Strategy&, Frederic Ozeir joins Oliver Wyman as a Partner in its Saudi business. Frederic has been appointed a Partner in the firm’s Energy & Natural Resources practice, specializing in corporate strategy development, M&A, and operating model design.
Attila Havas in the Netherlands takes on a new role as Head of Operations and Major Accounts at Vantage Towers. He has a background at Monitor Deloitte in their Commercial Excellence team and has recently taken on some interim leadership roles.
The Middle East team at Roland Berger has bolstered its Sustainability practice with the addition of Zachary Kaplan and Dragos Fundulea. They join as Partner and Principal respectively and bring extensive experience in climate change, decarbonization of operations, sustainability, and more broadly, environmental, social, and governmental (ESG). Kaplan joins from Bethesda-based DEI, and Fundulea from Roland Berger’s own Bucharest office.
Mahmoud Totonji joins Kroll as Managing Director for Saudi Arabia. With over 20 years of experience across the banking, investment and financial services industries, Mahmoud will support the growth of their office in Saudi Arabia.
Ebner Stolz grows its business in Germany with a six-strong restructuring team from PwC. Led by Christoph Konow, who has been appointed a Partner at Ebner Stolz, the hires include Christian Heilmann (Principal), Frederik Blümm (Senior Manager), Pavel Rakhovskiy, Andreas Hackner, and Friedrich Schinzing (Managers).
L.E.K. Consulting has added two new Partners to its European leadership team. In Germany, Florian Kaiser has joined the firm’s Munich office. He brings 20 years of experience, with a focus on building products & materials. In the UK, Kristin Graham has joined the leadership team of the London office. She joined from EY-Parthenon, where she was a Director focused on M&A strategy and deal advisory engagements in the retail and consumer markets.
Inverto has strengthened its leadership in the Nordics with Thomas Abel Brask. He joins from Strategy& and previously served Prokura (now Kearney). Appointed a Managing Director, based out of Copenhagen, Thomas Abel Brask brings almost 20 years of industry and consulting experience to Inverto.
In Belgium, Maxiem Devos has joined EY Law as Counsel to boost the firm’s Corporate practice. Maxiem has broad expertise in domestic and cross-border M&A, private equity, joint ventures, reorganizations, and general corporate and commercial advisory.
OC&C has brought on Lars Luck as a new Partner for the Munich office. Luck was previously Managing Director at household goods manufacturer WMF Retail, and spent considerable time with Roland Berger. He has extensive focus on traditional retail and D2C.
Automotive expert Geng Wu joins Alvarez & Marsal as Managing Director in Germany. He leaves an SVP role at Volkswagen and has a strategy background at McKinsey, as an Associate Partner.
A&M welcomes Managing Director, Daniel Jerneycic, to the firm’s Restructuring and Turnaround practice, based in Detroit. Daniel has extensive expertise in under-performance issues, operational turnarounds, and bankruptcies, especially in the automotive and industrial sectors. He joins from EY-P’s Turnaround and Restructuring practice.
Market Intelligence
Allen & Overy agreed to merge with Shearman & Sterling LLP for increased international coverage and US presence. Financial terms were not disclosed. Allen & Overy (led by Wim Dejonghe) is advised by Lazard, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and Brunswick Group. Shearman & Sterling (led by Adam Hakki) is advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
Boston Consulting Group has moved to a new office in Qatar, as the firm steps up its efforts to support the country’s Vision 2030 agenda. Launched in 2017, BCG’s Qatar operation has grown into a team of 70.
Accenture will acquire Objectivity. The move sees more than 700 staff join Accenture’s cloud and digital consulting wing. Objectivity is an international IT company, founded in Coventry in 1991. Since then, the firm has spread to offices in Germany, Poland, and Mauritius, with its team of 700 (400 of whom in the UK) working on global digital transformation projects. Alantra advised, supporting Objectivity.
A Yes Recycling Group recycling plant in Scotland has fallen into administration in its first year. Grant Thornton will now seek a buyer for the facility’s assets. The organisation is based in Buckinghamshire, but in 2022, it launched a new recycling plant in Fife.
Taiba Investments Company has acquired Dur Hospitality, one of the larger hotel and residential compound groups in the Middle East. The former worked with J.P. Morgan, PwC, and Khoshaim & Associates, while the latter had advisory from HSBC and AS&H.
With its launch in the Middle East, research consultancy Human8 now goes global. Dubai is the firm’s 24th hub worldwide, focusing on its expansive retail, beauty, and luxury goods network.
Kroll announces the launch of their first end-to-end Commercial Property Valuation Platform to support their insurance capabilities. The platform provides clients with valuations on property data at scale and it assists with strategic remedy of overinsurance and underinsurance.
Energy conglomerate ENGIE has selected boutique player Jummar as its communications consultant in Saudi Arabia. Jummar will provide strategic communications, media advisory, content development, and media relations management.
Getir is in talks to take over German rival Flink in a key step toward consolidation in Europe’s food delivery market, where all similar companies are still struggling with the effects of COVID-19.
Alpha FMC has acquired Shoreline, an APAC-based asset and wealth management consultancy headquartered in Australia. The Shoreline team will join Alpha’s asset & wealth management consulting business in APAC.
Tenzing-backed Gravita sets up two important partnerships, with accountancy firm Carter Backer Winter (CBW) and technology and startup specialist Davis Grant in the UK.
The Swiss government has hired Alvarez & Marsal to facilitate its role in the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS. The firm was awarded a contract worth 8.7 million Swiss francs ($10 million) by the Swiss Federal Finance Administration (FFA) to aid them in managing the significant acquisition.
Henkel Ahesive worked with SparkOptimus to ramp up its commercial improvement and customer centricity. One of the main focuses of the project was to improve the sales process of, among others, adhesives, sealants, and functional coatings.
After the merger of Design Bridge and Superunion, the company has rebranded as Design Bridge and Partners. The combined company operates in 12 countries, focusing on brand strategy and design, including graphic, motion, digital, and physical and communication design.
HSBC has agreed to buy out its China fund management joint venture partner. HSBC, which currently owns a 49% stake in HSBC Jintrust Fund Management, has signed an agreement with Shanxi Trust that the Chinese state-owned company will sell its 51% holding in the joint venture to the bank.
Uber has launched flight bookings to its UK app as part of its push to become a travel “super app”. The San Francisco-based group has started rolling out the new booking tool for domestic and international flights to UK customers, and plans to expand it further nationally.
Bain & Company announced a strategic alliance with THL-backed Ashling Partners, a leading global provider of automation consulting and implementation services. Bain is also investing in Ashling to “deepen its collaboration with a key partner in Bain’s Vector digital practices.”
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Intel have announced a strategic collaboration to enable generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) using end-to-end Intel AI hardware and software, creating solutions for enterprise clients while enabling full privacy of data.
IMB introduces a new enterprise studio for #AI builders: IBM watsonx.ai “brings together traditional machine learning and new generative AI capabilities into a powerful platform spanning the AI lifecycle.”
Alter Domus has acquired Solvas, Deloitte’s leading fintech provider. “This acquisition further accelerates the ongoing transformation and expansion of the business.” This addition strengthens the firm’s data and analytics products in the private debt, CLO, and financial services.
Microsoft, software developer Icertis, and PwC will offer PwC clients a contract management platform that unlocks insights from data embedded in contracts, and use it to automate end-to-end business processes, as more and more businesses lean into use of AI.
Vice files for bankruptcy. Although it impressed media giants on inception, it has struggled to adjust to digital publishing. A group of creditors could buy Vice for $225 million.
The EU approved Microsoft’s $69 billion bid for Activision Blizzard, giving hope to a deal opposed by U.S. and U.K. regulators on antitrust grounds.
BCG reports record $11.7 billion amid 60th anniversary celebrations. Other recent notable achievements for the firm are a $1 billion spend on social impact projects over the past decade; near gender parity among staff; its partnership with COP27; and the recent formation of BCG X.
Global corporate finance advisory firm Clearwater International has launched a bespoke service helping mid-market firms to bridge gaps with corporate finance. The initiative aims to bolster ESG performance of mid-market firms, and improve their valuations for investors as a result.
Kea & Partners has completed two acquisitions (Souffl and Veltys), providing the firm with entry into two new market segments: data science strategy, and design and product innovation.
As the demand for consulting services to boost customer relationship management continues to rise, BearingPoint is scaling its Salesforce practice. Having already doubled its team to over 200 during the last three years, the firm now aims to deliver the same level of growth by 2025.
Blackstone has agreed to acquire International Gemological Institute – IGI, a diamond, colored stone and jewelry certification organization, from Fosun, a Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company.
EY has extended the tenure of its UK boss Hywel Ball, allowing him to work beyond the firm’s mandatory retirement age of 60.
London-based sovereign debt expert Newstate Partners has been bought by Ankura. The deal occurs for an undisclosed fee, and comes as restructuring work relating to government debts around the world is on the rise.
Nextview has unveiled growth plans for 2023. Over the course of the year, the Dutch Salesforce partner will launch nine new offices in four European countries – more than doubling its current footprint.
McLaren Racing announced a multi-year extension to its partnership with Deloitte, continuing as the Official Transformation Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team from the 2023 season.
RenaissanceRe, a provider of reinsurance, insurance and other related business services, agreed to acquire Validus Reinsurance, Ltd., a reinsurance business, from AIG, a finance and insurance corporation, for $3bn.
The Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco has signed partnerships with Shell and Capgemini Invent with the aim of advancing its research knowhow around low carbon fuels.
Saudi Arabia’s national flag carrier, Saudia, has selected Accenture as its partner for transforming the guest experience it offers its 30 million passengers per year.