Livingstone expands its Special Situations team

Ian Brown has joined Livingstone as a Managing Director to lead the firm’s Special Situations team in London, complementing its established Debt Advisory practice and existing Special Situations teams in the US and Germany.

Ian, a qualified lawyer with an MBA from INSEAD, joined Livingstone in September 2018, having been with KPMG since 2011 and having previously worked with Kroll (now Alix Partners), and in industry (as both a Commercial Director and Finance Director).

Whilst at both KPMG and Kroll, Ian specialised in more challenging or accelerated M&A and refinancing transactions, as well as helping management teams to develop and deliver stabilisation and profit improvement plans, with previous engagements including advising Monarch Airlines, Jones the Bootmaker, Hornby, Beales and Learndirect.

He has advised on over 25 successful transactions, covering public, private and sponsor owned businesses, with revenues up to £1bn, covering disposals, acquisitions, and equity and debt fund raisings.

Livingstone’s dedicated Special Situations team has extensive experience of advising mid-market companies during periods of under-performance, distress, and insolvency. The firm’s team has a successful track record representing both debtors and creditors and offers a full range of advisory services including:

• Delivering successful outcomes for challenging or distressed M&A, guiding boards through the process and managing stakeholders;
• Raising fresh debt or equity, including to fund profit improvement plans;
• Developing turnaround plans with management and supporting cash management; and
• Strategic alternative and capital structure assessments, together with any resulting balance sheet restructuring.

We are one of the only UK mid-market corporate finance practices with a dedicated special situations capability which does not take insolvency appointments, avoiding any potential conflict between a corporate finance mandate and taking an insolvency appointment.

Brown commented: “I’m excited to join Livingstone to continue my focus on the more challenging end of mid-market M&A and refinancing without the conflict of an insolvency practice, using the full depth and international reach of Livingstone’s existing sector knowledge to deliver outstanding results for our clients.”

Partner at Livingstone London Patrick Groarke added: “As one of the only UK mid-market M&A and Debt Advisory houses with a dedicated special situations capability, we have been actively seeking a senior hire for our business for some time. In Ian, we have found a heavy-weight addition to our team, widely respected across the industry, with a firm grounding in M&A and experience of advising Boards and Private Equity investors through the full business cycle.”

The London Special Situations practice sits alongside Livingstone’s established Debt Advisory team, and extends the firm’s existing global Special Situations capability, led in North America by Joseph Greenwood and in DACH by Dr. André Schröer.