Berkeley Research Group (BRG) announced the creation of an integrated Strategic Performance Solutions (SPS) group within the firm's Corporate Finance practice. Bringing together BRG's Private Equity PortCo Services, Finance Excellence and Performance Improvement teams, this newly combined and refocused group will offer clients holistic, cross-industry, dynamic solutions and serves as a new foundation for the firm's continued growth in the broad performance improvement market.

The SPS group will concentrate on delivering results to private equity sponsors, private debt investors and corporate clients. Drawing on extensive hands-on operations, private equity and financial advisory experience, the group will help businesses identify and align on strategic improvement initiatives, drive measurable results and create meaningful organizational change. The team also will offer core capabilities across critical areas in the lifecycle of an investment, including value-creation planning, strengthening the finance and IT functions, and supporting major transformational transactions, such as integrations and carveouts.

Managing Director Brian Murphy, who joined BRG in 2020, will lead the group and brings a wealth of experience to the role. For over 20 years, Murphy was a senior operating partner at Bain Capital and Advent International, where he was the primary operating executive in over 20 private equity investments—partnering with management and private equity deal teams to establish post-investment strategy, pursue performance improvement and install strong governance. More recently he has been leading BRG's Corporate Finance Private Equity PortCo Services and Finance Excellence teams.

Murphy commented, "We are extremely excited to build on BRG's Corporate Finance strengths in restructuring and transaction advisory services. By unifying the various Corporate Finance performance improvement efforts, we can better serve our clients with a broad array of functional and industrial sector expertise. While much of our focus will be on private capital investors and their portfolio investments, our service offerings will be very attractive to both private and public companies."

Partnering with Murphy will be Managing Director Darren Morrison, who has more than 25 years of corporate finance and performance improvement experience advising global clients and private equity portfolio companies through transformational change. Morrison added, "As we look to expand the business, we will continue to invest in new functional and sector capabilities. Specifically, we will continue to build and develop the team at all levels in order to provide a foundation for sustained growth."

Bob Duffy, BRG's Corporate Finance practice leader, added: "This is an important inflection point and a logical step in the ongoing effort to serve our evolving client needs. We've experienced tremendous growth in our Corporate Finance business over the last several years—driven largely by our Turnaround & Restructuring and Transaction Advisory teams. The Strategic Performance Solutions group and their extraordinary talent will further propel our growth. This team gives us the critical mass needed to directly pursue healthy companies that are challenged by strategic, operational or organizational issues, while better positioning us to bring a multi-dimensional operational performance improvement capability to the many high-profile restructurings we lead."