Grant Thornton Singapore adds three partners to restructuring team

Grant Thornton in Singapore has added three new partners to its restructuring and insolvency business – continuing a recent move on the local market.

Following a significant investment made into the firm from its UK and Thai counterparts earlier this year, and the subsequent appointment of Jeff Vibert as its new CEO, the Singapore branch of Grant Thornton has continued its market push with the recruitment of three new partners to its financial advisory business in the areas of insolvency and restructuring; Seshadri Rajagopalan, Paresh Jotangia and Martin Chua, who all cross from boutique SR Associates.

A local independent specialist in restructuring and insolvency, SR Associates was established by Rajagopalan in 2016, after nearly 35 years spent at Ernst & Young, where he led the Big Four firm’s ASEAN insolvency and restructuring practice. Former EY colleagues Jotangia and Chua later joined him at partners at SR, Jotangia as a founding partner and Chua coming on board at the start of last year. Together they boast over 60 years of experience in the field.  

“Raja and his colleagues have extensive experience in leading major restructuring and insolvency assignments in the ASEAN region and we are delighted that they are joining our Singapore practice,” said Hugh Dickson, Global Head of Restructuring across the Grant Thornton International network. “They will complement the strong global capability we have in this service line across the world’s major onshore and offshore jurisdictions.”

Starting out with EY in Singapore in 1982, Rajagopalan has over his three decades in the restructuring, insolvency and investigations space worked on a diverse range of assignments across industries including real estate, retail, shipping, construction and manufacturing, though which he has developed extensive general and operational management experience in dealing with complex financial, strategic, legal and commercial issues for distressed businesses.

Jotangia, meanwhile, joined EY in 2010, ultimately serving as an associate director, before which he spent six years as a senior associate with PwC in the UK. Skilled in restructuring, financial analysis, investigations and operational and trading issues, Jotangia has over his career served the spectrum of SMEs through to global conglomerates, with industry experience in the healthcare, financial services, construction, transport and energy sectors among others.

With Rajagopalan to serve as Grant Thornton Singapore’s new Head of Restructuring and Insolvency, the third of the firm’s recruits in the space, Chua, was with EY for nearly fourteen and a half years prior to joining SR Associates. A B.Sc. holder in banking and finance from the University of London, Chua specialises in corporate recovery and restructuring work, with experience covering industries including oil & gas, construction, real estate, and manufacturing.

“These new appointments demonstrate the significant investment we are making to build a market leading financial advisory practice in Singapore, which will focus on creating, protecting and transforming value for financially stressed corporates and their stakeholders,” said Singapore CEO Vibert. Parallel to Grant Thornton’s push in Singapore, the world’s sixth-largest accounting and consulting network also recently appointed two Singapore-based independent directors: Aliza Know and Martin Geh.