Alta Strengthens Canadian Presence
With Addition of New Managing Principal Hugh Swandel
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Susan Carol, APR
Phone: 540-361-1274
Email: sca@scapr.com
LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA, Sept. 17, 2009--The Alta Group announced today that it is expanding its North American presence with the addition of Hugh Swandel as a managing principal of the Canadian region for this premiere global equipment leasing and finance consultancy. Along with Swandel, his associate, Murray Derraugh, joins Alta as an associate.
Swandel has extensive North American contacts in the leasing industry. He serves on the board of the National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) and the Canadian Finance & Leasing Association (CFLA), and is active in the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) in the United States.
“Hugh is a preeminent consultant in the Canadian market and his experience is in line with the focus of our work in the United States --mergers and acquisitions, business management and professional development,” said John Deane, managing principal of The Alta Group in North America.
Through Swandel’s own company, Swandel & Associates, in Winnipeg, Canada, the two new members of Alta’s team have also been working jointly with Bruce Kropschot on mergers and acquisitions in Canada. They became more involved with Alta when Kropschot joined The Alta Group’s M&A division as a principal last year.
“Joining The Alta Group will not only help us expand our services in the United States but also in Europe, Asia and Latin America where Alta is well established,” said Swandel.
Before launching Swandel & Associates in 2001, he served as president and chief operation officer of Electronic Financial Group (EFG). EFG was a Canadian company that built and launched a multi lending web-based credit system. He began his career in 1989 after earning an honors arts degree in history and political science from the University of Winnipeg, and an honors business degree from the University of Manitoba.
Swandel also held a variety of executive positions during 10 years with National Leasing Group, a privately held Canadian lessor.
Murray Derraugh, the senior vice president of Swandel & Associates, has more than 25 years of management experience in both the manufacturing and the financial services sectors. Derraugh worked in both sales and credit for more than seven years at National Leasing and at a MasterCard affiliate before joining Swandel. Currently, he also leads the Canadian Lease Education On-line (CLEO) program for CFLA. Derraugh and Swandel together brought this education program to Canada from the United Association of Equipment Leasing, revised the content for use in Canada, incorporated fleet leasing into the Equipment Leasing program, and modified the material for use in a virtual classroom setting.
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About Alta
The Alta Group is a global consultancy serving equipment leasing and finance companies, investment professionals, manufacturers, banks, and government organizations. Founded in 1992, The Alta Group supports clients in North America; Latin America; Western, Central and Eastern Europe; Australia; and China. For more information, please visit http://www.thealtagroup.com.
