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A&M's Middle East partner count nearly doubled in 18 months, signaling sovereign-wealth restructuring work is moving to conflict-free specialists.
18
active mandates across the UAE
$1.2M–$1.8M
annual guarantees
$4.7B
backlog of performance-improvement work across hotel groups
$600M+
in assets are professionalizing operations under new UAE corporate-governance…
Alvarez & Marsal brought four senior partners into its Middle East practice, adding capacity in transaction advisory and performance improvement at a moment when Gulf state portfolios are repricing legacy holdings. The hires—drawn from Big Four and regional boutiques—land in Dubai, where the firm has operated since 2008 but never at this build-out velocity.
The new team specializes in operational turnarounds for family offices and sovereign-wealth portfolio companies, sectors where A&M already holds 18 active mandates across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Two of the four partners came from EY's restructuring practice; the other two exited a regional advisory that closed its transformation arm in Q4 2024. A&M did not disclose compensation structures, but Middle East partner packages at comparable firms now regularly include equity participation and $1.2M–$1.8M annual guarantees, per Gulf headhunter disclosures filed with DIFC regulators in January.
The move reflects two pressures. First, sovereign funds are quietly unwinding tourism and hospitality bets made between 2018 and 2021, creating a $4.7B backlog of performance-improvement work across hotel groups, destination developers, and airline adjacencies. Second, family offices managing $600M+ in assets are professionalizing operations under new UAE corporate-governance rules that took effect in September 2024, requiring independent financial oversight and formal restructuring protocols. A&M now fields 11 partners in the Middle East, up from six in mid-2023, making it one of the fastest headcount expansions among non-Big Four advisory firms in the region.
Operators should watch for two follow-on events. First, whether A&M opens a Riyadh office by Q3 2025; the firm has run Saudi engagements from Dubai but recently registered a legal entity in the Kingdom, visible in December's Ministry of Commerce filings. Second, whether other independent advisory houses—Ankura, FTI Consulting, Kroll—match the hiring pace. If they do, it signals allocators are shifting restructuring work away from audit-firm conflict walls and toward specialists. If they don't, A&M may be early to a market that hasn't yet separated from Big Four dominance.
The Gulf's consulting market grew 11% in 2024 to $2.1B in fees, but 73% still flowed to Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG, per MAGNiTT's January advisory tracker. A&M's bet is that the next $300M–$400M in growth comes from work the Big Four can't touch due to audit relationships, and that sovereign clients will pay premium rates for operators who've run Chapter 11 processes in the U.S. and UK distressed cycles. The firm's Middle East revenue crossed $80M in 2024, double the 2022 figure, though still a fraction of its $3.6B global take.
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