Alvarez and Marsal expands India PE practice

Consultancy Alvarez & Marsal is expanding its activities in India to offer services to private equity firms and their portfolio companies to improve operations. 

The new private equity performance improvement (PEPI) division will offer pre-acquisition operational due diligence, acquisition planning and post-deal performance improvement to portfolio companies.

“Unlike in the previous cycle of private equity in India, the firms have now realized that operations are important in getting returns on investment,” said Vikram Utamsingh , co-head of A&M India and managing director of the firm's transactions advisory group in Mumbai. “The thinking has changed in Indian private equity, and A&M offering this service fits very well with that new demand.”

The firm will combine the new division with its pre-deal offering which comprises commercial, financial, tax, forensics and operations due diligence capabilities.

The PEPI division looks at a business over the next five years using financial, commercial and operational due diligence, including a company's historical results and local market trends, before calculating its projections. 

The firm has also appointed Amith Karan as managing director of its PEPI practice. Before joining A&M, Karan spent three years as part of the management team of research and analytics firm Aranca, and six years prior to that with consulting firm McKinsey.

A&M offers its PEPI service globally, and includes more than 250 professionals worldwide in the division.