AlixPartners entered into an agreement to acquire the business and assets of Zolfo Cooper Europe. This acquisition will significantly expand AlixPartners’ UK and continental European practice.
Zolfo Cooper Europe brings to AlixPartners its full operation of approximately 200 senior professionals, including 19 managing directors, drawn from its distinct but complementary advisory services and restructuring services practices. Operating from offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow the arrival of the Zolfo Cooper team significantly enhances AlixPartners’ UK and European footprint creating a regional practice of close to 600 highly skilled professionals. The integration of the two businesses has been planned in detail as part of the acquisition process. Zolfo Cooper Europe will be rebranded AlixPartners across all its offices and both practice areas following the completion of the acquisition which is expected to occur by the end of February 2015.
Fred Crawford, CEO of AlixPartners, said, “Combining with Zolfo Cooper Europe will enable AlixPartners to better serve our UK, European, and global clients from an expanded position of strength and further reinforces our position as the pre-eminent global turnaround and restructuring group. The team at Zolfo Cooper Europe is well known and highly regarded and, along with AlixPartners’ strong capabilities in global restructuring, operations improvement, information management and litigation support, puts us in a great position to extend our market leadership.”
Stefano Aversa, business unit leader of EMEA for AlixPartners, added, “The environment for many global corporates continues to be challenging, particularly in Europe. This transaction creates the largest turnaround and restructuring group in Europe, bringing together two teams of senior professionals recognized for deep expertise in restoring performance and creating value. Throughout this process we have seen first-hand how impressive the people, capabilities and reputation of Zolfo Cooper Europe are, and we look forward to serving our clients as one strong and unified team.”
“Bringing together Zolfo Cooper Europe and AlixPartners is great news for our clients and our people. It is entirely aligned with our strategy over recent years to expand both our service offerings and geographic reach in pursuit of helping our clients solve critical problems. We’re extremely excited about the opportunity to bring these complementary skills, cultures, and reputations for outstanding client service together under the AlixPartners brand,” said Simon Freakley, CEO of Zolfo Cooper Europe.
Lisa Donahue, global leader of AlixPartners’ turnaround and restructuring practice, commented, “This acquisition brings together two of the most well-known turnaround and interim management advisory firms in the UK and internationally. AlixPartners has acted on many significant and well-recognised international restructurings including Kodak, General Motors and LyondellBasell, whilst Zolfo Cooper Europe has helped to secure deals ensuring the future of leading UK and European businesses including Hibu, Clinton’s, Strada and Stemcor.”
Zolfo Cooper Europe provides a broad range of specialist business advisory solutions spanning the entire corporate lifecycle including restructuring services, pensions advisory, forensic and litigation support, debt advisory and corporate finance to both companies and their stakeholders.