Alvarez and Marsal

Alvarez & Marsal was founded in 1983 by Tony Alvarez II, former Coopers & Lybrand workout specialist and Bryan Marsal, a former Citibank workout banker, after the two met and worked together at Norton Simon Inc. They created a professional services firm focused on turnaround management, corporate restructuring and operational performance improvement in an area where previously individual executives operated. The first turnaround client of the firm was Timex Corporation. A&M grew slowly through the 1980s and 1990s with a small team focused on restructuring based in New York and, by 1994, a satellite office in Los Angeles.[4]

During the 2000s, while continuing to specialise in turnaround work, and continuing to take executive and Chief Restructuring Officer roles, the firm expanded its practice and grew its revenues with much of the increase coming from private equity firms that hired A&M for services across the investment life cycle, from due diligence and performance improvement through to asset sales.[5]

By 2013, Alvarez & Marsal had grown to over 3000 personnel working from 55 offices around the world.

Alvarez & Marsal produces several strategic reports. These reports include the A&M Activist Alert (AAA), a statistical analysis and predictor of shareholder activism in Europe;[11] the Banking Pulse Report, which compares the profitability and resilience performance metrics of key banks across specific regions[12] and; The Shape of Retail report series, a compilation of data and commentary on the sector’s performance and trends.[12]

Alvarez & Marsal often competes for its traditional turnaround and interim management work with other specialty firms such as Berkeley Research Group, FTI Consulting and AlixPartners, and since 2001 has been competing with more traditional consulting firms, such as McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group, for work supporting Private Equity funds and corporations.

Competitors have suggested that Alvarez & Marsal has considered its own business objectives while restructuring failing companies, pointing to a deal with Enron Corp.'s accounting firm, Arthur Andersen as an example. While dismantling Andersen, they note Alvarez & Marsal hired six turnaround specialists from the firm.[13] At Lehman Brothers, A&M received nearly $500 million[14] in fees over the three years following the bank's collapse [9] making the Lehman bankruptcy the most expensive (and arguably the most complex) in history as of 2013.[15]

• Marc Sherman
• Sergio Moro[16]