Alvarez & Marsal has accelerated the expansion of its corporate finance practice in the UK with seven senior hires. Al-Munther Sultan has been appointed as a managing director of healthcare and life sciences, while Claire Edwards, Sarah Bannister, Patrick Simpson and James Gaffney join as directors, and Sarah Bowen and Hannah Halstead arrive as associate directors.

With over 7,500 people providing services across six continents, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) works for corporates, boards, private equity firms, law firms and government agencies facing complex challenges. The firm’s corporate finance line provides services including expert advice on structuring securities and satisfying capital needs; creating marketing materials to favourably position clients for funding; and negotiating key terms and covenants with capital sources.

In the UK, where interest rates have been rising amid the country’s record inflation rates, A&M is encountering keen demand for these services, as clients look to navigate an environment where the cost of lending is impacting the near-term availability of capital, as well as future refinancing transactions. A&M’s corporate finance division has subsequently grown rapidly since the start of the year across both the firm’s Manchester and London offices. Continuing this trend, seven new hires into the team – all with Big Four experience from KPMG.

Al-Munther Sultan joins as a managing director in the team’s life sciences wing. Sultan has spent over 15 years advising founder-owners, private equity and corporates on a wide range of M&A services, including business exits, fund raising/ partial company exits and acquisition support. He arrives from KPMG where he held a senior position in its M&A practice for the past six years. Prior to this he worked in other M&A advisory firms and in leveraged finance for an international bank.

Claire Edwards also comes to A&M from KPMG, arriving as a director in the same healthcare and life sciences specialty. She has over 17 years’ experience specialising in corporate finance, providing advice to business owners, management teams and private equity investors on a range of mid-market transactions including business disposals, acquisitions and private equity investment.

Sarah Bannister spent nine years working within KPMG’s corporate finance team on high profile transactions across the North and senior in-house corporate development roles at Village Hotels and Sykes Holiday Cottages. She joins A&M as a director with a national focus on travel, hospitality and leisure, bringing with her a wealth of experience and unique perspective developed through her.

Patrick Simpson also joins with over 10 years’ experience advising mid-market businesses in the region. Having spent time working in KPMG’s US practice where he advised on several private equity and corporate transactions, he has experience completing a wide range of buy and sell-side engagements working with owner manager and private equity clients, primarily across the business and tech enabled services sector.

James Gaffney joins A&M with over a decade of experience within KPMG, having joined the corporate finance team in 2016. With has a national focus on energy and sustainability services, he has worked on a number of the highest profile deals in the sector – and was previously nominated for the North West Emerging Dealmaker of the year in 2021.

Sarah Bowen comes to A&M as an associate director. She specialises in providing buy-side and sell-side deal advisory services to founder owned business in the mid-market. Sarah was shortlisted for Young Finance Professional of the year at the Insider North West Young Professional Awards this year.

Hannah Halstead also takes up an associate director role, with a background in working with privately owned and private equity-backed businesses across a variety of sectors with both sell side and extensive buy side experience. Her recent deal experience includes advising Cocogreen on its investment from Circularity Capital and Healthpoint on its investment from Dayes BV, both of which were nominated for Deal of the Year in their respective categories in 2022.

Speaking on the new recruits, A&M Senior Director Jo Sheerin said, “These appointments are a significant moment for Alvarez & Marsal’s Corporate Finance team as we continue to strengthen our offering to businesses. We continue to attract top talent who share our values of leadership, action, and results. The seven new arrivals are a welcome addition to our team, and we are confident that they will be able to draw on their varied experiences to help us achieve our goals for clients.”