West Monroe's Kate Festle and Foster Tidwell announced as winners of the M&A Advisor's 13th Annual Emerging Leaders Awards

West Monroe is honored to have two directors, Kate Festle of the healthcare & life sciences practice and Foster Tidwell of the M&A practice, recognized as winners of the M&A Advisor’s Emerging Leaders Award. Kate and Foster have both been selected for their noteworthy business accomplishments and community involvement from a pool of hundreds of nominees by an independent judging panel of distinguished business leaders.

“It is no surprise that Kate and Foster have received this honor from M&A Advisors. They are trusted advisors to their private equity and healthcare clients and are seasoned experts in identifying value creation opportunities even for the most complex transactions,” said Matt Sondag, managing partner and leader of West Monroe’s M&A practice. 

Kate is a leader in West Monroe’s Healthcare & Life Sciences M&A practice. Using her expertise in provider, payer, and life sciences technology, she partners with private equity and strategic buyers in pre-acquisition due diligence, post-merger integration, and value creation to position clients for success in the dynamic healthcare marketplace. She is particularly passionate about the behavioral health space, having led more than 40 buy-side, sell-side, and technology transformation initiatives. She is a member of West Monroe’s Women’s Leadership Network employee resource group, where she leads community discussions on career equity. She is also a leader in our Women in M&A program, where she focuses on increasing representation of women through recruitment, networking, and celebrating her female colleagues’ accomplishments.

A leader in West Monroe’s carve-out service offering, Foster has advised on 310 carve-out due diligence, day-one readiness, and post-close separation execution transactions. He works with private equity sponsors to evaluate investments and to implement value-creation strategies to maximize enterprise value during the hold period. His experience includes advising both strategic and financial buyers across the M&A lifecycle, from due diligence to portfolio value creation to sell-side strategic planning. He is also a leader in West Monroe’s Women in M&A program to focus on increasing the representation of women on the team and serves on the Internal Relations committee.

Launched in 2010 as the "40 Under 40 Awards", The M&A Advisor's Emerging Leaders Awards is renowned globally for recognizing great achievements and leadership among corporate finance and dealmaking professionals. The M&A Advisor created the program to honor the significant contributions of accomplished, future leaders in a robust industry of dealmakers, promote mentorship and professional development of these individuals, and celebrate their accomplishments and contributions to progress in the industry. Evaluation of the nominees and selection of the winners was completed by prominent members and experts in the M&A, finance, and turnaround community.

The awards will be presented at the 2022 Future of Dealmaking Summit in New York City on November 15, 2022.

To view the complete list of this year’s winners, click here.