Consultancy.co.za | Kroll expands Restructuring practice in South Africa with senior leaders

Kroll, a global consulting firm, has expanded its advisory team in South Africa with three senior hires: Jo Mitchell-Marais, Ken Afrah and Gregor Böttcher.

Jo Mitchell-Marais and Ken Afrah have joined as Managing Directors, while Gregor Böttcher has come on board as Director. All three become members of the firm's Restructuring practice, and will work alongside Managing Directors Stefan Smyth and Alison Timme and Director Wessel de Jager. The Kroll team is based across Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The trio join from Deloitte, where Mitchell-Marais served as Partner and Leader of the Turnaround & Restructuring practice for Africa. Afrah was also a Partner at the Big Four firm, while Böttcher most recently held the role of Associate Director. Earlier in their careers, all three gained experience at other Big Four firms (EY and PwC).

"I'm thrilled to joined Kroll's Restructuring practice. It's especially wonderful to join with Ken and Gregor - I've always said that in this profession it's important to work with people who inspire you and who you love to work with, so the ability to work with them and the existing team at Kroll really makes this a reality for me and I couldn't be more excited to get going," said Mitchell-Marais.

Headquartered in the US, Kroll has more than 6,500 professionals working from offices around the world. The nearly 100-year firm has been operating in Africa for more than three decades, accelerating its presence in South Africa three years ago when it launched its Johannesburg office.

In South Africa, the consulting firm is best known for its restructuring services, although it also supports transactions, valuations, and engagements around risk and performance improvement.

"Our expansion in South Africa reflects both client demand and our active commitment to being where our clients need us most. We bring together deep local expertise, strong connectivity across legal and financial ecosystems, as well as the full strength of the global Kroll platform to help clients navigate increasingly complex and dynamic operating environments," said Jason Kardachi, Global Co-Head of Restructuring at Kroll.

Smyth added: "South Africa's economy is modernizing, de-industrialization is accelerating and yet we also need to navigate inflation and softness in consumer spending. We're here to help clients protect, restore and maximize value against this backdrop."

Working together with clients in financial distress, as well as banks, investors and law firms, the restructuring team supports with restructuring management, debt restructuring, crisis management, working capital improvement, liquidity planning, turnaround strategies, and stakeholder negotiations to help restore financial stability and drive recovery.

Senior team members also take on directorship, chief restructuring officer and supervisory board appointments.