A&M expands in Asia

Alvarez & Marsal is deepening its global footprint with the creation of a new transaction advisory group in Shanghai.

The practice provides fund managers with pre-acquisition due diligence, divesture support, refinancing reviews and IPO readiness planning, among other services. 

Leading the new practice is Xuong Liu, who was previously with KPMG as a transaction advisory partner. He will be joined by Richard Chen, also formerly of KPMG, where he was a senior director. 

“As Asian investors increase in sophistication, China’s capital markets continue to evolve and the ways to invest and divest become more diverse, it is a natural progression for our business to launch a transaction advisory group in Asia to meet these growing demands from our client base,” said Oliver Stratton, co-head of A&M Asia during the launch of the practice in Hong Kong on Thursday. 

The move comes on the heels of a similar expansion in India, in which A&M launched a Mumbai-based transaction advisory group led by Vikram Utamsingh in 2013. The firm also created a new valuation practice in London last year, which is spearheaded by Kleon Phili, who prior to the appointment served as head of financial advisory services at Duff & Phelps. Part of his mandate will be to expand A&M’s valuation services to other “key European geographies”, according to a firm statement at the time.