For the second consecutive year, leading global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) received Global M&A Network’s highest honor, the Turnaround Atlas Award for Global Turnaround Consulting Firm of the Year. A&M also was awarded the following Turnaround Atlas Awards: Healthcare Services Turnaround of the Year for its work with Rural/Metro Corporation; Cross Border Restructuring of the Year for its work with Central European Distribution Corporation; and Pre-Packaged Restructuring of the Year – Middle Markets for its work with Education Holdings.
Turnaround Atlas Awards recognize exceptional restructuring, distressed M&A and turnaround performance across three categories: Outstanding Firm, Industry and Top Deals & Assignments. Winning firms and transactions – spanning a variety of sizes and restructuring styles – are selected by independent panelists and based on identifiable performance criteria such as pre/post financial workout, sustainability, operational/client/HR metrics, number of creditors, sector challenges, timeliness, jurisdictional intricacies, leadership and resourcefulness.
A&M’s selection as the Global Turnaround Consulting Firm of the Year was based on a comprehensive review of the firm’s annual performance as well as its efforts in complex transactions in 2013, including the Chapter 11 reorganizations of Rural/Metro Corporation, Central European Distribution Corporation and Education Holdings, for which A&M was awarded separate Turnaround Atlas Awards in the Industry and Top Deals & Assignments categories.
A&M served as the financial advisor to Rural/Metro Corporation, a national ambulance and fire protection services provider in 21 states and nearly 700 communities, when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2013. Through its financial restructuring, Rural/Metro was able to reduce debt by nearly 50 percent and receive a $135 million equity capital infusion from bondholders.
Central European Distribution Corporation's Board of Directors unanimously approved A&M to serve as the restructuring adviser for its Chapter 11 filing. The work allowed the U.S.-listed company to successfully close a going-private sale to a Russian investor and restructure its balance sheet by reducing its public bonds from more than $1.3 billion to $650 million.
A&M served as the financial adviser to Education Holdings during the company's Chapter 11 reorganization in early 2013. As a result of the firm’s efforts, the company exited Chapter 11 in March 2013, less than two months after filing.
Privately-held since 1983, A&M is a leading global professional services firm that delivers business performance improvement, turnaround management and advisory services to organizations seeking to transform operations, catapult growth and accelerate results through decisive action.