A&M launches its private equity performance improvement practice

05 February 2023 Consultancy.com.au 2 min. read
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Global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has recruited former BCG managing director and partner Timo Schmid to kickstart its new private equity performance improvement practice in Australia and New Zealand.

The launch of the firm’s private equity performance improvement practice in the Australian market is in line with Alvarez & Marsal’s local ambitions, with the firm having recently marked the country for strategic expansion following its alignment with its Southeast Asia branch.

“We are excited to offer our Australia clients the full suite of private equity, commercial and operational pre-deal diligence and post-deal value creation services,” commented A&M managing director Utsav Garg, who heads up the firm’s Southeast Asia and Australia division.

A&M launches private equity performance improvement practice

Leading the new practice is Timo Schmid, who crosses after the past six years with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he led the strategy firm’s equivalent practice, and joins A&M as a managing director based out of Melbourne.

“A&M’s value proposition is unique in the A/NZ market,” Schmid said on joining. “The firm’s performance improvement focus, across the investment life-cycle, stems from its operational heritage, results-driven mindset, and integrated platform. These factors combined with A&M’s deep bench of functional experts and experienced operators help to deliver accelerated value creation for clients.”

Schmid brings altogether two decades of international mergers & acquisitions and strategy experience to his new role, having first joined Boston Consulting Group for a four-year stint to 2011 before later returning and being made partner in 2021, with the intervening period spent in M&A at Westfarmers. Early, he spent four years as a consultant at Siemens, and has worked across the A/NZ, Southeast Asia and Europe.

During his career, Schmid has advised numerous private equity funds as well as corporate buyers on target identification, pre-deal diligence, and post-deal value creation, with experience across a range of sectors including retail, logistics, infrastructure, industrials, healthcare, and digital. He holds a degree in Business Information Technology and gained his MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics.

“Timo’s expertise in creating value for private equity clients complements our local large-scale transformation capability and our Corporate Performance Improvement practice. Additionally, his experience across multiple industries aligns with A&M’s lines of services,” said Renee Klimczak, who recently joined the firm in Australia to lead its overall local Performance Improvement practice.

In addition to Schmid’s recruitment and Klimczak crossing from the firm’s Houston office, Alvarez & Marsal has brought in a further four managing and senior directors in recent months.