Martin Lewis
Founder, Gower Advisers

Independence.  Integrity.  Intelligence.

Martin F. Lewis is a seasoned corporate finance adviser, with broad experience in the mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and restructuring advisory work.  He has acted as adviser for companies, boards of directors, equity sponsors and investors. Mr. Lewis’ skill set is derived from his work in the U.S. and international corporate finance arenas with several independent investment banks and from his experience in international capital markets and U.S. corporate banking with Chemical Bank.
His skills include:
  • Effective capital raising and merger and acquisitions advice in the context of both stressed and non-stressed situations, for both buyers and sellers
  • The ability to resolve complex multi-party dispute negotiations typical to restructuring situations
  • Valuation expertise and expert testimony
  • ​an extensive network of relationships in the US and international corporate finance and banking markets and the legal community

Business Experience
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Gower Advisers has been involved in a wide variety of activities in the financial advisory sector in the last 5 years

  • acting as the company's investment banker in the pre-packaged Chapter 11 case for Rubio's Restaurants, a $200MM restaurant chain located primarily in CA (recently completed)
  • assisting a private equity fund with its loans to Waitr Inc., a regional food delivery business (ongoing engagement)
  • assisting a private equity fund in the potential acquisition of a Latin American agri business that is part of a US based Chapter 11 proceeding
  • ​advising the Board of Directors on the restructuring of a US-based services business with $400MM of debt
  • assisting a large public Mexican corporation in its investment in a Mexican infrastructure fund
  • ​assisting Macquarie in the restructuring of a renewable energy project in Mexico
  • providing expert testimony in New York and Dallas on litigation of fee engagements on behalf of creditor groups
  • advising Molymet, a publicly listed Chilean corporation on its investment in Molycorp, a rare earths mine in California
  • assisting a NewYork based family fund in the due diligence for several final round investment bids for consumer product companies


​​Gower's current assignments include:

  • Acting as advisor to private equity owners in respect of a restructuring of $120 million bank debt at a portfolio company
  • Acting as general financial advisor to a large internationally-owned US corporation seeking acquisition opportunities in the U.S. middle market
  • Acting as an Expert Witness in the litigation case in the High Court of Justice in Antigua and Barbuda between HMB Holdings and various parties including the Attorney General of Antigua and First Caribbean International Bank, in respect of certain banking matters (ongoing)


Mr. Lewis is also currently acting as Chief Financial Officer of Pearl Holdings Acquisition Corp (PRLH), a NASDAQ quoted special purpose acquisition company.


Mr. Lewis spent 6 years from 2007 to 2013 as a Managing Director with Greenhill & Co., an independent investment bank.   Mr. Lewis worked as a senior member of the restructuring team and was involved in a wide range of advisory assignments both for companies and creditor groups.

During 2006, he spent 12 months with the Rhone Group, a private equity fund based in New York, establishing a restructuring group as part of an initiative to establish a broader advisory business alongside Rhone’s private equity business.
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Mr. Lewis was a founding member of Miller Buckfire Lewis & Co, LLC, (now known as Miller Buckfire) an independent investment bank formed in 2001 by Mr. Lewis, Henry Miller and Ken Buckfire as the successor to the restructuring group of Wasserstein Perella (“Wasserstein”).  Mr. Lewis joined Wasserstein as a Managing Director in March 1998.   In the seven years that Mr. Lewis worked with his fellow partners firstly at Wasserstein and then at Miller Buckfire, this group became one of the leading independent restructuring boutiques in the United States.

Prior to Wasserstein, Mr. Lewis spent 7 years with the Blackstone Group, where he was involved in a wide range of restructuring assignments as adviser to both companies and creditor groups under the leadership of Art Newman.

Prior to his activities as a restructuring specialist, Mr. Lewis spent 8 years at Chemical Bank, initially with Chemical’s investment bank in London and then New York working primarily on European capital market, leveraged lending and investment banking transactions, before joining Chemical’s restructuring and reorganization practice in 1989.

Mr. Lewis commenced his banking career with N.M. Rothschild in 1980 in London and Mexico City, in Rothschild’s international corporate finance department.

Education

Mr. Lewis qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the U.K. in 1980 having spent three years with Coopers and Lybrand in London.  He holds an M.A. degree from Oxford University.

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