A&M poaches 4 from EY to build LATAM CF practice
Professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal has expanded its service portfolio in Latin America with Corporate Finance and Transaction Advisory offerings. To lead the functional expansion, four experienced professionals have been hired: Fabio Pires, Alvaro Araujo, Sergio Aguilar and David Arrabito – all four moving over from EY.
With over 2,500 professionals in more 40 offices Alvarez & Marsal is one of the world’s larger consulting firms. Founded in 1983, the advisory firm has been active in Latin America since 2004, when it opened an office in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2010 a second office on the continent followed, based in Mexico City.
Both São Paulo and Mexico City have to date mainly focused on financial advisory (e.g. restructuring, performance improvement) and tax offerings, yet in line with growing demand for M&A services in the region, Alvarez & Marsal has expanded its wings into the Corporate Finance arena. To lead the expansion trajectory, the firm has brought-in a team of four highly experienced professionals from rival EY. The professionals will be based in the US – Fabio Pires and David Arrabito in Los Angeles, and Alvaro Araujo and Sergio Aguilar in Miami – yet bring significant expertise in nearly all countries across the LATAM region, including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru. Jointly they will form the management team of the firm’s Latin American Transaction Advisory Group.
“A&M’s Transaction Advisory Group is a fully global practice,” says Paul Aversano, Global Practice Leader for the firm’s Transaction Advisory Group. “Fabio, Alvaro, Sergio and David have in-depth, on the ground knowledge of Latin America. Their professional in-country experience extends our operational, functional and industry expertise and enhances our ability to help clients create value within this region.”
Fabio Pires brings over 13 years of transaction experience throughout Latin America and the US. He developed a Brazil-based high-growth sell-side practice and led complex cross-border buy-side due diligence engagements on behalf of multinational strategic clients as well as Brazil-based and international private equity firms. Prior to joining Alvarez & Marsal, Pires was a partner with EY where he focused on Latin America cross-border transactions while based in EY’s Miami, Los Angeles and São Paulo, Brazil offices. He is fluent in Portuguese and English.
Alvaro Araujo has extensive experience advising private equity firms, strategic buyers and multinational corporations on their investments in Latin America. Prior to joining A&M, he served over 10 years as an auditor and member of EY’s Transaction Advisory Services group in New York and Miami where he led financial and accounting due diligence initiatives, including cross-border and cross-functional teams. Araujo also served as lead transactions partner for EY Peru and was responsible for developing a transactions team in the country. He is fluent in English and Spanish.
Sergio Aguilar specialises in buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence and has vast experience advising on private equity and corporate cross-border transactions for large US and European clients. He has over nine years of experience advising clients on transactions in the US and Latin America, particularly in Colombia. He also has extensive experience in Mexico and in the US planning and executing client audits. Aguilar’s transaction experience in Latin America includes manufacturing, consumer products, utilities, business services, chemicals, healthcare and infrastructure industries. The EY and PwC alumnus is fluent in Spanish and English.
David Arrabito has extensive public accounting and cross-border transaction-related experience. He specialises in buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence and has advised financial and strategic buyers on cross-border acquisitions and divestitures in the US, Latin America, Asia, India and Russia. Arrabito’s industry experience in Latin America spans the automotive, consumer products, e-commerce, education, energy, engineering and construction, food and beverage, manufacturing, services and retail sectors. He previously served EY for 15 years, working extensively in among others São Paulo, and is fluent in English and Portuguese.
