Gallagher has announced the addition of three new professionals to its private equity and M&A practice in Europe, continuing its recent expansion in the sector.
The new joiners, Cristina Montserrat Chaparro Vaquero (pictured above), Veronica Orosa Talarewitz, and Pau Lopez Fornons, will be based in Spain and form part of Gallagher’s broader European Private Equity and M&A team.
Montserrat Chaparro Vaquero joins as senior broker with a focus on tax and warranty & indemnity (W&I) insurance. She previously spent 14 years at PwC as a tax advisor, later moving to AON as Director of Tax Insurance Practice for Iberia. Most recently, she led the M&A transactional solutions team for Iberia and Italy at Sabseg, where she worked alongside Orosa Talarewitz and Lopez Fornons.
Orosa Talarewitz takes on a combined broking and claims role. She began her career at Clyde & Co, specialising in insurance law, before joining AIG as a financial lines and M&A major loss claims adjuster. Her most recent position was at Sabseg, where she served as W&I insurance solutions and M&A and financial lines claims director.
Lopez Fornons joins as associate broker in the W&I segment. He spent a decade at PwC as a tax advisor, followed by in-house tax advisory roles at Aedas Homes and Crowe. He later moved into broking, specialising in M&A and tax insurance.
These appointments follow a series of hires by Gallagher over the past year aimed at strengthening its capabilities in the private equity and M&A space. In August, the firm named Alistair Lester as CEO of Private Equity and M&A for the UK, Europe, and the Middle East.
In June, Henk Bijl joined as senior broker for transactional risks in Europe, and in October 2024, Joyce Koch and Vera Dembski were appointed as tax specialists.
Discussing the new appointments, Lester said the trio bring significant expertise in transactional risk solutions, which are increasingly used by European clients.
“We have ambitious growth plans for this specialist area of insurance and expect to make further appointments in the coming months,” Lester said.
In addition to these appointments, the company has also made changes at the executive level in its specialty operations. In February, Gallagher named Sarah Lyons as CEO of its London Specialty division, a role in which she will oversee 1,100 employees and join the UK executive leadership team.
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