Alvarez & Marsal expands Corporate Finance offer to music and immersive entertainment sectors with senior strategic hires
Leading global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has expanded its Corporate Finance offering into the music and immersive entertainment sectors with the appointment of Dean James as managing director and Nilufar Fowler as senior director.
Based at Tileyard London, the world’s largest community of independent artists and creative businesses, Mr James and Ms Fowler will focus on M&A, private capital raising and strategic advisory in the sector, as well as supporting brands with sponsorships and partnerships.
Mr James brings more than 25 years’ experience leading commercial transformation, growth and fundraising for music, live entertainment and marketing services businesses globally. He has co-led two of the live music industry’s most successful growth businesses, including Mean Fiddler, which was sold to Live Nation in 2005, and MAMA Group, which became the UK’s largest live music business and world’s largest artist management group and was bought by HMV Group in 2010. Over his career, he has raised £250 million via IPO, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Trade Buyer and Family Offices.
Ms Fowler brings deep expertise in client growth and business development roles. She spent 18 years at WPP, most recently leading the firm’s Global Strategic Partnerships function across martech, adtech, cloud, commerce, AI, entertainment and channels.
Prior to joining A&M, Mr James and Ms Fowler co-founded SAMBA Group, a buy-and-build holding company operating at the intersection of live music and marketing services across the UK, US and Australia.
Jonathan Boyers, managing director, and head of Corporate Finance EMEA said: “With global live music and immersive entertainment markets now exceeding $170bn in combined value, we see a significant opportunity to support brands as deal activity accelerates. Dean and Nilufar bring a unique combination of sector expertise and entrepreneurial experience, which will further strengthen our offering in these disruptive markets primed for growth.”
Commenting on his appointment, Dean James said: “Strong consumer demand for live experiences and increasing brand investment is driving double-digit growth across the live music and entertainment markets. As deal activity and investment across the sector continue to accelerate, there is growing demand for high-quality strategic advisory across M&A, capital raising, sponsorship deals and partnerships. With A&M’s global platform, we are well positioned to help clients capitalise on this momentum and support their long-term growth ambitions.”
Commenting on her appointment, Nilufar Fowler said: “Live and immersive music and entertainment experiences have become central to consumer and brand engagement, driving more strategic partnerships across the industry. I’m excited to join the A&M team alongside Dean as we grow this capability and help clients structure partnerships and transactions that create long-term value.”
Nick Keynes, co-founder of Tileyard, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Dean, Nilufar and A&M to the Tileyard community. The fact that such an exciting new endeavour in the music and entertainment space should choose to base themselves at Tileyard, speaks volumes for what we’ve created here over the years. We have a shared vision for where we believe the industry is headed so I look forward to working closely with the team on many new and exciting opportunities going forward.”