KordaMentha launches public sector-focused office in Canberra
Australian business advisory KordaMentha has officially launched a new office in Canberra, with the public sector-focused practice to be led by a number of recent Big Four partnership recruits.
While KordaMentha has worked closely with governments and public sector institutions across Australia over its more than two-decade history, the consultancy firm said the Canberra launch marked a significant milestone.
Those leading the new business include former PwC partners Andrew Mrnjavac and Jess Finlay, director colleagues Mayuri Kain and Cameron Blagdon, and Lachlan Abbott, who joined from EY as a partner in March.
Andrew Mrnjavac joined KordaMentha in Canberra in April after spending the previous three years as a partner in PwC’s then booming integrated infrastructure advisory team, before which he was a director at EY for over six years. He specialises in strategic, commercial and financial advisory for projects and investments in the transport, energy, agriculture and social sectors among others.
Likewise bringing a background in infrastructure advisory across key sectors, Jess Finlay joined at the end of last year after also spending three years as a director and partner at PwC and four and a half years at Ernst & Young. Prior to that, Finlay served as a senior advisor to National Party leader Warren Truss during his time as infrastructure minister and deputy prime minister of Australia.
Lachlan Abbott meanwhile became a member of KordaMentha’s restructuring partnership in March after crossing from EY’s strategy & transactions team, having spent more than a decade and a half at the Big Four firm and its local acquisition Kazar Slaven. A registered liquidator since 2015, Abbott has worked with clients in the healthcare, education, property, and government sectors among others.
Another recent recruit, Mayuri Kain joined KordaMentha as an executive director earlier this year after spending more than five years with PwC’s management consulting division, before which she served for a decade and a half between the department of defence (interrupted by a brief spell at Deloitte) and as a director in a range of policy and financial roles at the finance department.
Having pinched PwC’s senior Sydney property team last year, KordaMentha has now added another colleague in Canberra, with Cameron Blagdon joining as a director via a brief detour to Scyne Advisory. Before crossing to PwC in 2021, Blagdon spent the best part of a decade and a half with the department of finance, including in director roles overseeing procurement, property and infrastructure delivery.
Canberra becomes KordaMentha’s sixth office in Australia, alongside Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Townsville, and Sydney.
In other news at KordaMentha, the firm this month promoted James Wagg and Ben Mahler to partner.