Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has poached three of Arup’s transaction advisors, who are reuniting with their former boss Craig Forrest as the firm eyes European expansion.

The three additions to Forrest’s team will cover various sectors, including transport, renewables and energy transition, sources familiar said.

JY Chan, who has been mainly focusing on transport and electric vehicle (EV) charging at Arup, both on the debt and equity side, has joined A&M as of Tuesday (1 October).

Chan worked as a principal consultant for LeighFisher until it became part of Jacobs, joining the firm in 2017 before leaving for Arup in 2021.

Additions to follow next week include two more Arup advisors, Mark Townsend and Danny Howlett, focusing on energy transition and renewables respectively.

Howlett is the longest-serving member to be leaving Arup for A&M, having been with the firm for 10 years, leading its battery energy systems advisory offering in the UK and Europe as well as focusing on due diligence and construction of thermal power and renewables.

The sources said that A&M plans more hires in the following months as it continues its push into European infrastructure.

The recent and upcoming additions to the team follow the appointment of Forrest in July, an infrastructure advisory veteran who was with Arup for 17 years. He is leading the Infrastructure & Capital Projects (ICP) team in Europe.

US professional services firm A&M is looking to grow its presence in the European infrastructure market after appointing regional heads elsewhere in the world.

Pankaj Bhagat joined A&M in March to lead its activities in India while the previous month the firm hired Amber Stevens, who was at PwC before, to co-lead the team in Australia.

In recent months, A&M has advised on several infrastructure deals in Europe, including Ancala’s sale of its 50% stake in Dragon LNG, one of the UK’s three LNG terminals, to infrastructure fund-backed energy storage company VTTI.

A&M was also involved in Arcus Infrastructure Partners’ recent equity injection into German EV charging company EZE.network, as well as in the sale of the N25 road PPP in Ireland to a consortium including Swiss investor IST and Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure.

A&M declined to comment.