Grant Thornton Expands PE Team

Grant Thornton has expanded its private equity capabilities by hiring Bill McManus and Alex Arata to lead the firm’s value creation planning services unit, a part of the firm’s strategy and transactions practice.

In their new roles, Messrs. McManus and Arata will be active with private equity firms and their portfolio companies developing organic and inorganic growth strategies to build enterprise value.

“In today’s fast-paced environment, private equity firms and their portfolio companies have numerous levers to pull to accelerate value creation, and it’s vital they prioritize these initiatives and align all parts of the organization around the highest value drivers,” said Greg Westfall, Grant Thornton’s national managing principal of private equity. “Bill and Alex will further establish Grant Thornton as a premier provider of professional services in the private equity space, delivering our clients with the high-quality value creation planning that is becoming increasingly critical.”

Mr. McManus has more than 30 years of private equity and consulting experience and has worked with executive management teams at mid-sized and Fortune 100 companies in a variety of industries. His past experiences include sales and marketing, product development, engineering, legal, human resources, finance, information technology and operations. Prior to joining Grant Thornton, Mr. McManus spent ten years at Point B, a Seattle-headquartered consulting firm. Earlier he held senior positions with Alvarez & Marsal for five years and Washington Mutual for four years.

Mr. Arata joins Grant Thornton as a business development executive with more than 20 years of experience. Prior to joining Grant Thornton, he was a director at Point B for more than four years in its private equity practice providing strategic and operational support to private equity-owned portfolio companies.

Founded in Chicago in 1924, Grant Thornton is the US member firm of Grant Thornton International, one of the world’s largest audit, tax and advisory firms. The firm has revenues of more than $2.3 billion and operates more than 50 offices with more than 590 partners and 8,500 employees.

Grant Thornton’s private equity practice is led by Mr. Westfall, Partner Melanie Krygier, and Partner Mike Notarangelo.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | June 22, 2023