Bio

Diva Gawander is a Managing Director with the Alvarez & Marsal Private Equity Performance Improvement/Operational Restructuring team in London. He brings 12 years of experience in performance improvement, interim management, corporate advisory, financial restructuring and leading/managing transformation programs across a range of industries. Currently, Mr. Gawander is leading an A&M team as part of the Cost Transformation Program for a Pan-European business owned by a Tier 1 PE House. The business owns a portfolio of theatres and produces musical content. The program generated savings resulting in annualised run-rate EBITDA increasing by over 30 percent (to c.€105m). Recently, Mr. Gawander provided on the ground leadership to the European Finance operations of a c.$400m revenue private equity owned leading player in the testing and measurement industry. For a listed Global Services Company, Mr. Gawander assisted the Chief Transformation Officer in managing and leading the PMO and developing/driving restructuring and transformation initiatives (exit run-rate savings of £120m). Previously, Mr. Gawander led a finance team and managed working capital for a large listed US producer, distributor and recycler of lead-acid batteries in Chapter 11. He developed revised processes to ensure that transactions were recorded in line with Chapter 11 requirements. Prior to that, Mr. Gawander led a team that developed a short-term cash flow forecasting tool for a large Norwegian headquartered retailer as well as assisted in preparing business review detailing opportunities to improve financial and operating performance. Mr. Gawander also assisted in supporting a mobile network operator to the emergency services (£1.8 billion of debt) during their refinancing process/contract renewal process by developing a model underpinning their analysis in respect of headcount reductions and redundancy costs for the group. He also assisted in identifying and implementing cost reductions of more than £30 million (approximately 15 percent of the operating cost base). Mr. Gawander earned a bachelor’s degree in actuarial studies and commerce (majoring in finance and accounting) from the Australian National University. He is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. An Australian and British national, he is fluent in English, has a basic command of Hindi and is currently learning Greek.