Managing Director
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Christian Michel is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal’s Private Equity Performance Improvement practice in Madrid. He specializes in performance improvement, transformations, turnarounds and CEO/COO/CTO interim management missions across multiple sectors, with a focus on industrial companies. Mr. Michel brings more than 30 years of experience, with almost 10 years in management consulting and over 20 years in CEO and COO roles, mainly in PE-sponsored international industrial companies. Mr. Michel has led and supported companies as they adapt to a range of challenges, including organizational redesigns and right-sizing, commercial turnarounds, sales effectiveness initiatives, cost-reduction programs, working capital improvements, CAPEX optimization and transformation of R&D processes and organizations. He has led and advised numerous large-scale transformations, business-unit turnarounds and growth projects for international industrial companies in FMCG (food), construction materials, medical equipment and energy. Mr. Michel’s notable engagements include turning around underperforming business units in Spain, Russia, Rumania and France as division/country CEO of a leading European construction materials producer; doubling the EBITDA for an industrial company in the wood sector and leading a successful exit of the PE sponsor as a Group CEO; achieving a rescue finance deal of 300+ million Euros for the holding mother company during the financial crisis as Group CEO of a Spain-based construction material company; and carrying out a cost and top-line turnaround that led to a 50% EBITDA improvement in the first year as interim CEO for a PE portfolio company. Previously, Mr. Michel held an interim VP role for Europe for a US-based medical device company, leading to a recovery of sales growth after many years of decline; led a post-merger integration project of a leading European food manufacturer, transforming it into a highly innovative market leader and doubling its net profits after a year; and transform the commercial department of a leading energy group. Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Michel spent eight years with Boston Consulting Group where he oversaw large-scale transformational projects. Mr. Michel earned a degree in chemical engineering/cybernetics from the University of Stuttgart (Germany), an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands), an advanced management certificate from INSEAD and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh (UK). A German national, he is fluent in German, Spanish and English.
