Alvarez & Marsal Tax (A&M Tax), an affiliate of global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), launched its new license advisory services (LAS) offering, spearheaded by LAS national practice leader and managing director Ashley Scheele and supported by senior directors Mandy Coffey, Grace Wee and Vina Chandrashaker.
With more than 25 years of experience in public accounting, Scheele specializes in managing license transitions, entity registration/deregistration and license compliance issues. She has extensive expertise advising clients on licensing needs during crucial business changes and partners with stakeholders to mitigate business delays and disruptions.
Prior to joining A&M, Scheele was the national practice leader for Ernst & Young’s license compliance services, where she built and grew the practice, leading teams across the U.S. and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“Our LAS offering was born of continued market demand for comprehensive tax and business solutions that maximize value,” Ernesto Perez, global practice leader of A&M Tax, said. “It represents A&M’s commitment to invest in diverse service offerings that provide clients with confidence and comfort, especially during life events. Ashley and her team bring invaluable expertise to augment our integrated platform.”
Collectively, Coffey, Wee, and Chandrashaker bring decades of public accounting and business and operational license advisory experience to A&M Tax. They work with clients across multiple industries including retail, hospitality, oil and gas, telecommunications, car rental and mobility. They each have significant expertise managing large-scale licensing engagements and supporting clients with compliance and other advisory needs, such as process improvements and issue resolutions.
“With over 90,000 types of tax and operational licenses, across multiple industries and jurisdictions, ensuring license compliance is crucial, especially in complex bankruptcies and M&A transactions,” Adam Benson, managing director and U.S. leader of global transaction tax at A&M, said. “LAS will help clients navigate the growing regulatory and legal complexities surrounding tax and operational licenses. Failure to properly execute license transitions could result in anything from a halt in business operations to the costly delay of a transaction. A&M’s LAS team has the experience to mitigate against those risks and we believe this unique offering will be a differentiator in the market.”
“Ashley is a great addition to our Houston office. Proper license evaluation and compliance is essential,” Seth Bullock, a North American Commercial Restructuring (NACR) managing director and co-head of the practice’s southern region, said. “This can be particularly true in distressed situations where a company is focused on maintaining enterprise value and, if applicable, transitioning licenses to reflect the new ownership structure post emergence. LAS provides clients with another arrow in A&M’s quiver of operational excellence and value creation.”
