He advises corporates in developing and implementing restructuring plans, leads turnaround projects as an interim manager (CFO, CRO) and provides independent business reviews for creditors and investors.
Mr. Knott has operational and financial restructuring experience across a wide range of industries including industrial machine manufacturing, automotive supplier, food, electronics, medical devices and IT.
Before joining A&M, Mr. Knott was a managing partner in a German restructuring boutique firm and head of their Munich office. He played a leading role in multiple restructuring cases, most recently serving as CRO in a food manufacturing conglomerate for a 14-month period. In this position, he helped the company to overcome a severe liquidity crisis by implementing cash management procedures for 16 legal entities, by generating liquidity through reduction of inventory and securing financing with banks, suppliers and trade credit insurers. He built and executed a program to reduce purchasing costs and to optimize pricing that brought the group back to profitability. Furthermore, he implemented a group-wide KPI-system to improve performance transparency for management and shareholders.
Previously, Mr. Knott served as an interim-CFO for a group of companies active in metal and electronic manufacturing services following a default on serving outstanding loans. There (and in similar roles), he added value for clients by regaining trust with creditors – managing phases of tight liquidity and developing and implementing restructuring programs. Within these programs, he gained significant experience in revenue enhancement, productivity improvement, purchasing cost savings and headcount reduction, including the negotiation of social plans with workers’ council.
During his engagements, he became an early adopter of new in-court restructuring tools of German ESUG, filing at courts in Berlin and Leipzig each the very first cases of §270 billion InsO insolvency proceedings in 2012 and 2013.
Previously, Mr. Knott held positions as a president of a medical equipment business unit at Danaher group and CFO in a software company, which he led through the crisis in the IT industry after 2001.
He started his professional career at Bain & Company in their private equity practice group, advising LBO funds during business due diligence and implementing on site operational post-acquisition restructuring programs.
Mr. Knott earned a master’s degree in business administration (Diplom-Kaufmann) from the WHU Koblenz, Germany, and studied at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Reims, France, and Brandeis Graduate School of International Economics and Finance, U.S. A German national, he is fluent in German and English, and has working knowledge of French.
Andreas