Pitch Best Young M&A Advisor 2022: Ton Kremer, Alvarez & Marsal

Company: Alvarez & Marsal 
Job Description: Senior Associate 
Age: 29 

What are the specialties of this talent? 
While only having 3 years of M&A experience Ton worked on a large number of transactions in a wide variety of industries. He specialised himself in a number of industries (e.g. events and staffing). Ton primarily worked for Dutch and international private equity clients such as Egeria, Waterland, Providence Equity Partners and Windjammer. Important transactions for Ton throughout his career are the sale of ID&T to Superstruct, take private of NIBC, the merger between VLC & partners and Mutsaerts, Acquisition of Odin Groep by Apax France and the investment of 3i in Dutch Bakery Group. In addition, Ton specialised himself in dealing with large datasets and turning these into easy-to-understand analysis and providing advise to clients. 
 
How does the talent distinguish itself from its peers? 
Throughout his career Ton took on more responsibilities at a rapid pace. Since the start of his career he has been client facing and worked on international deals. For example, he worked on European projects with the local A&M teams in Frankfurt and Paris as well as on larger projects with teams in Asia and Latin Amerika. Currently, Ton is leading small and mid-sized deals. During his projects Ton looks beyond of what is asked and considers the impact of his analysis on the wider deal. Ton manages to deliver high quality work while soon completing his ACCA accounting qualification. Furthermore, he has a lot of energy and enthusiasm which he brings to the deals he is working on. 

What impact does the talent have within the organization?  
Within the A&M organisation Ton is not only active within his own business unit, but also cross business unit. Together with some of his colleagues he organises regular social activities for his colleagues to improve the team cohesion. For Ton it is important that everyone feels welcome, at home and valued at work. He is actively coaching the analysts in the team and takes extra time to teach them new skills. For his colleagues he is almost always available to help out, assist and answer questions. He also provides training to the rest of the team, for example on how to analyse data and structure the analysis in a way that it is easy to share with clients. 

What impact does the talent have outside the organization?  
At A&M he actively participated in organising a fundraising for Ukrainian children in Amsterdam that fled the war. Before joining A&M Ton was active as volunteer in many student organisations where he acted as treasurer or advised the treasurer on getting control over the cash flow. 
 
To what extent does the talent make the difference to clients?  
Prior to joining A&M Ton worked at Squarefield an M&A boutique focussed on the food and agri sector. This experience gives him a better understanding of how a corporate finance advisor works as well as a better understanding of deal dynamics which go beyond just financial due diligence. Ton knows when to involve tax and legal advisors. He is able to convert a broad question into an easy to understand analysis and provide advise based on this. 
 
Why does the talent deserve this nomination? 
From the day Ton joined A&M as an analyst he showed a tremendous growth. Ton is passionate and enthusiastic about his work and he tries to deliver his enthusiasm to his colleagues. He always does the extra mile for his clients to deliver high quality results. Furthermore, Ton is a role model for his colleagues in the way he interacts with his colleagues, delivers high-quality work to his clients and work ethos. 
 
Any references or recommendations from clients or (colleagues)? 
You immediately recognise it in someone if he or she has the capabilities to turn into a Transaction Advisory expert or not. It is the grit, the quantitative skills, the way someone approaches his or her work on a daily basis. Ton is a clear example of a young promising Transaction Advisory specialist who soaks up all the experience he can get, is always cheerful and yet professional and always constructive. The pace with which he absorbs new insights and motivates others is really inspiring. It is always fun and truly rewarding to work with Ton, one of the best Young professionals I have come across in my carreer – Age Lindenbergh  

Ton can provide clients within a short time frame with key insights on business performance and items that impact the valuation. Ton has extremely good technical and excel skills which enable him to digest large datasets quickly and form substantiated conclusions. Ton always goes the extra mile for his clients to get the required insights. – Nout Brugman