Alvarez & Marsal adds senior quartet to Middle East team

Alvarez & Marsal has ramped up its team in the Middle East with four high-profile hires: Paul Gilbert, Karim Benhameurlaine, Sumit Mittal and Sara Alom Ruiz. 

Appointed a Managing Director and Head of Alvarez & Marsal’s Turnaround & Restructuring practice in the Middle East, Paul Gilbert transfers from the firm’s UK office. He brings over 25 years of experience in turnaround and restructuring engagements across multiple jurisdictions as well as CRO and CFO interim management positions to the firm.

Gilbert currently is working on the complex restructuring of NMC Health, in charge of the finance workstream. 

Karim Benhameurlaine has been named a Managing Director and Head of the Healthcare & Life Sciences practice. He brings over 20 years of experience, delivering enterprise-wide strategy, operational restructuring, finance transformation, and performance improvement across the healthcare industry in the Middle East and Africa.

Prior to joining Alvarez & Marsal, he led GE Healthcare Partners in the region for four years. 

Sumit Mittal is a member of the Financial Services practice. He has extensive experience advising leading commercial banks, central banks, and public financial institutions in the region on strategy formulation, cost transformation and organisation restructuring.

Previously, Mittal was a Principal at Boston Consulting Group in its Financial Institutions practice focusing on strategy, transformation programs and regulatory development. He started his career at Citibank in India in the Corporate & Investment Banking division.

Sara Alom Ruiz brings over 16 years of healthcare management experience with private healthcare providers across the region including involvement in the UAE’s largest healthcare merger and the strategy for the combined group. Prior to joining A&M, she served as the Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer for King’s College Hospital London in the UAE, focused on business development, marketing strategies, pricing and insurance management, and more.

Both Mittal and Alom Ruiz have been appointed as Senior Directors. 

Commenting on the appointments, Saeeda Jaffar, Head of the Middle East at Alvarez & Marsal (ex-Bain and McKinsey), said: “These hires are part of our strategic expansion plans and growth in the region. They will bolster our Dubai-based team and enhance our ability to address the market’s restructuring needs across the region.” 

“These appointments mark a significant step towards our goal of becoming the “go-to” restructuring firm in the Middle East with a commitment to leadership, action and results.”