Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has expanded its global footprint with the opening of a new office in the Cayman Islands and the appointment of three senior on-the-ground professionals. The joining of Alex Lawson, as Managing Director and Head of A&M Cayman Islands, along with Chris Kennedy, as Managing Director, and Barry Lynch, as Senior Director, will provide a full service offering for alternative investments restructuring for corporates, institutional investors, hedge funds and private equity (PE) firms.
The A&M Cayman Islands office complements the firm’s ability to work on restructuring engagements in parallel tracks with the U.S., U.K., Europe and Hong Kong. This expansion will benefit clients by strengthening the reach of A&M’s U.K. based Insolvency practice and bolstering the firm’s soft wind-down and advisory offering. As at June 2017, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority reported total international assets and liabilities of US$1.026 trillion and US$1.027 trillion, respectively.
Bryan Marsal, A&M’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Restructuring advisory is at the cornerstone of A&M’s operational heritage. The Cayman Islands is the fifth largest financial jurisdiction in the world. Our expansion here, and plans for growth, demonstrates our continuing commitment to meet our clients’ complex, international restructuring needs, related global valuation demands, as well as disputes and investigations concerns.”
Richard Fleming, an A&M Managing Director and leader of the firm’s Restructuring practice in Europe, added, “A&M’s presence in the Cayman Islands enhances our ability to maximize value for clients. Alex’s, Chris’ and Barry’s individual and combined expertise will provide the seasoned restructuring counsel required to help our clients address their turnaround challenges.”
Lawson brings over 15 years restructuring experience, 10 of which were exclusively in the Cayman Islands. He has served as an appointment holder for Provisional, Official and Voluntary liquidations, Controllerships and Inspectorships and has held key leadership roles in numerous engagements. Lawson has worked across all restructuring and insolvency procedures with a focus on unlocking value for hedge funds, PE funds and global enterprises in distress. Prior to joining A&M, Lawson served as a Partner with KPMG in the Cayman Islands.
Kennedy is a qualified Insolvency Practitioner in the Cayman Islands, a Chartered Accountant (Ireland) and a Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) registered Director who advises on distressed solutions for financial services sector clients. He specializes in corporate advisory, restructuring and insolvency and has been appointed as an Official, Provisional and Voluntary Liquidator to numerous Cayman registered entities. Kennedy has worked in the Cayman Islands for over 9 years. He has extensive experience advising on multi-jurisdictional matters across a wide range of industries, with a focus on protecting and recovering value for stakeholders. The U.S. Courts under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code have recognized Kennedy on multiple occasions.
Lynch is a qualified Insolvency Practitioner in the Cayman Islands specializing in providing distressed solutions to the financial services sector with diverse experience across the hedge fund, banking and capital markets, oil & gas and shipping industries. Lynch has been appointed as an Official Liquidator by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, and has led multiple high profile multi-jurisdictional insolvency, restructuring and advisory cases across the Cayman Islands, the U.S., U.K., the British Virgin Islands, Portugal, Monaco and Switzerland. He has also acted as a Board Director on behalf of numerous distressed structured finance CDO deals. Prior to joining A&M, Lynch served as a Senior Manager with RHSW Caribbean and as a Manager with PwC in Dublin.