BrazilEdward Middleton joins Alvarez & Marsal in Hong Kong
High-profile advisor Edward Middleton has joined Alvarez & Marsal in Hong Kong as a Managing Director in its Restructuring practice.
The addition for the global management consulting firm comes against a backdrop of rising financial pressure amid the Covid-19-indeuced downturn, which is seeing a fallout of demand across sectors. According to the latest figures from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, the local economy is likely to shrink by 4% to 7% in 2020 due to the prolonged impact from the Covid-19 epidemic.
This is in turn seeing demand for financial restructuring and administration / insolvency related services spike, and in the field, Alvarez & Marsal is one of the majors. The Restructuring wing of the US-headquartered consultancy helps companies of all sizes – from corporates to mid-sized domestic groups – with ensuring their finances are robust enough to weather the storm, or in the more pessimistic case, with overseeing the insolvency process.
According to Ron Thompson, Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal Asia and Head of Asia’s Restructuring practice, Middleton is a “recognised and respected market leader in the turnaround industry” that will help strengthen the firm’s ability to support its clients “at an important time in our expansion in Asia.”
UK national Middleton brings more than three decades of experience in restructuring, insolvency and liquidation to the firm, of which more than 20 years on the ground in Asia. Prior to joining Alvarez & Marsal, Middleton was a Managing Director at Houlihan Lokey, where he was Co-Head of its Asian Financial Restructuring Group. Before that, he was a Partner at KPMG in China, where he led its restructuring and insolvency business in China and the Asia-Pacific region for more than 10 years.
He has worked both as an insolvency office holder and as a financial advisor, assisting corporates and creditors, and worked across multiple sectors and geographies in the region.
Commenting on his move to Alvarez & Marsal, Middleton said: “Restructuring is in Alvarez & Marsal’s roots as a firm known for its heritage of operational excellence. I am delighted to have joined the Asia team at this time and am looking forward to helping the firm’s clients maximize value and drive change.”
Late last year, Alvarez & Marsal added two Directors to its Asia restructuring team: Tiffany Wong and Kitty Yeung, while two months ago, the firm hired a trio of Big Four alumni to beef up its regional Disputes & Investigations team.
According to Consultancy.org, Alvarez & Marsal is one of the leading restructuring consulting firms in the world.
